


Tourist Trap

by ladyoakenshields



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Asexual Relationship, Everyone Thinks They're Together, Friends to Lovers, Inspired by..., Loch Ness Monster, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-18
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2018-05-21 23:32:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 81,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6062233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyoakenshields/pseuds/ladyoakenshields
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On the North side of the Long Lake sat a tiny used-to-be tourist town named Erebor. The town was once a popular vacation spot with its many tourist attractions, chiefly, the myth about Smaug: the lake-dwelling sea monster that was rumored to live in the large lake. Now in the 21st Century, Erebor is struggling to survive with only a handful of people passing through during peak season. Management of Tourism for Erebor now lands in the lap of Thorin Durinson who’s inherited the business from his family.</p><p>Along with Bilbo Baggins, mythological fanatic and bookkeeper for Erebor’s current financial situation, Thorin’s determined to do something to drive people back to Erebor and the shores of the Long Lake. However, they quickly realize they may be in way over their head.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Bilbo groaned as he looked at the paperwork laid out before him. This was three weeks worth of work and Bilbo was nowhere near being finished.

He’d been here three weeks.

Adjusting his glasses, Bilbo looked up and gazed out the windows to the beautiful view: a large lake, an old pier, and mountains surrounding them. It was idyllic. It was safe.

Four weeks ago he’d been home in the Shire attending the funeral of his mother who had been ill for years beforehand. He’d been preparing himself for this for a long time; Bilbo had known it was only a matter of time before she was gone. But now that she was, he realized he could never have been ready. Bilbo could never have prepared himself for the hollowing void he felt as he watched her casket be lowered into the ground beside his father.

The reception was hosted at their home, cousins bringing dishes of food and fondly reminiscing about times before his mother had been ill. All of the family attending offered Bilbo their condolences and told him to give them a call if there was anything they could do for him. Bilbo smiled and thanked them, a motion he’d repeated all evening long. Sooner or later everyone had left, leaving Bilbo all alone in his family’s home.

He’d passed out on the sofa sometime in the early evening and woke up around two in the morning. Turning on the lights to the kitchen, he grabbed a bite to eat and poured himself a glass of wine from one of the last bottles left over from the reception. The quietness of the house was unbearable and without much thought he opened his laptop.

 _Train tickets to Dale,_ he typed into the search bar. Clicking on the first link, Bilbo sluggishly navigated through the website and proceeded to purchase a one way ticket north to Dale. He spent the rest of the night packing what he could into a few pieces of luggage. As dawn broke he called a cab and soon he was on his way to the train station.

It was about a five hour ride from the Shire to Dale, during most of which Bilbo had slept. When he woke up the train was pulling into Dale, reminding passengers that this was the last stop on that line and those passengers who were getting off should collect all their personal belongings. Bilbo sleepily collected his things and slowly made his way out to the platform. He stood dumbfounded for a moment, wondering what the hell he was doing. Fumbling with his phone he found the number to his neighbor, Hamfast, and dialed it. The phone rang once or twice before Hamfast’s friendly voice answered.

“Can I...ask a favor?” Bilbo asked after Hamfast greeted him.

“Sure,” Hamfast agreed.

“I...I’m in Dale,” Bilbo started as he moved off the platform and towards the main center of the station.

“You’re what?” Hamfast asked, feeling as if he’d clearly misheard Bilbo.

“I’m in Dale. I don’t know for how long...could be three days, could be three weeks.” Bilbo found an empty bench to sit down.

“How are you in _Dale?_ We were over last night for your mother’s memorial,” Hamfast argued with him as if Bilbo was delusional. Bilbo gave a tired laugh at how incredulous it was.

“I know,” Bilbo sighed. “I’m...I just needed to get away for a little bit. I'm thinking of staying up in Erebor for a little while.”

“Ah, the little town you were telling us about the other night, correct? The one your parents took you to when you were young?” Hamfast asked. 

“Yeah," Bilbo sighed. “Anyway, I just wanted to let someone know where I am. Maybe keep an eye on the house, that sort of thing,” Bilbo explained.

“The mail?” Hamfast asked.

“Oh, yes,” Bilbo squeezed his eyes shut. “If I’m gone for too long I’ll put a hold on it. Thanks.”

“Give me a call if you need anything else,” Hamfast told him.

“Thanks, Hamfast,” Bilbo sighed.

“Enjoy yourself, Bilbo.”

“Thank you,” Bilbo muttered before hanging up. He looked around the train station and sighed as he spotted a coffee shop.

Once he had gotten his overpriced cup of coffee he arranged another ride out of the city, just north to the small town of Erebor.

Sitting in the back of a taxi, he watched the countryside roll by as they left Dale. He’d visited Erebor many times before, often with his family. He’d even visited during his time as a grad student, writing his master’s thesis covering urban myths. The thesis focused primarily on Erebor and the legend of Smaug the Terrible: the dreaded sea monster that somehow found its way into the lake a long time ago.

For some reason this place had been his first thought when trying to deal with the grief of his mother’s death. Subconsciously, it was comforting.

The first place he went to was the old visitor’s centre. He’d gotten to know the family that owned the place fairly well during his time there as a grad student, but now he felt completely stupid as he stood outside the centre with three bags of luggage and nowhere else to go. Pulling the door open and lugging his baggage inside, the current manager of Erebor’s tourism greeted him at the door. He was a stoic man who gave him an uncertain scowl.

“This isn’t a hotel.” The man stared, bewildered, at Bilbo’s luggage.

“No, uh, I know that, I was just...coming into town and...I was wondering if the Durinsons still own this place?” Bilbo asked, hesitantly.

“Hardly,” the man had huffed before looking up and scrutinizing Bilbo’s face. The scowl on his face lessened when he seemed to recognize Bilbo. “Bilbo...Baggins? Right?” Bilbo faltered for a moment before finally recognizing the man behind the counter.

“Yes,” Bilbo nodded. “...Thorin?”

He’d met Thorin before on his many trips to the lake. The first time he was a merely a child and his family came to visit during the summer. He and Thorin were both about eight years old. Thorin hadn’t been old enough to actually help run the tourism business his father had built, but he hung around the visitor centre and helped with little errands that needed doing. Bilbo didn’t remember a whole lot from that vacation, but he remembered befriending Thorin enough for them to run around and play hide and seek out in the garden while his father had struck up a conversation with Thorin’s father about the business and the history of the region.

When they were a bit older, Bilbo’s family had returned. They were each about thirteen at that point and Thorin was decidedly too cool for Bilbo, who toted his favorite fantasy books with him everywhere he went. That summer Thorin’s cousin, Dwalin, had been visiting too and he could remember spending an afternoon in the garden of the bed and breakfast they were staying at and seeing Thorin and Dwalin walk by. They had glanced over and Thorin had said something to which Dwalin laughed. Bilbo could feel that they were talking about him. That visit to the lake had been Bilbo’s least favorite.

Years later, Bilbo had decided to write his master’s thesis on the myth surrounding the lake. He’d made the trip up to the lake by himself to interview Thorin’s family about the business and what they had seen in relation to the myth and how the myth had been passed down according to their personal family legends about the beast. Both Bilbo and Thorin were now in their early twenties and Thorin was now quite gangly with a scraggly beard. They’d spent a little bit of time together the week Bilbo was there to do his research but by the time Bilbo left Thorin was still quite the stranger to him.

He was quite surprised to find that Thorin had still remembered him enough to recognize him nearly twenty years later. The gangly young man Bilbo remembered had filled out considerably and was quite muscular. His dark hair was a little unkempt and his beard had grown in considerably. It finally looked like it actually belonged on his face as opposed to looking like an animal had crawled up there and died.

Thorin had been happy to see Bilbo but assumed Bilbo was only there on vacation and was going to leave within the week. Bilbo finally explained he’d hoped to stay in Erebor for a little while longer, yet he withheld the fact that he was trying to escape the pressing grief back at home for a little while.

The fact was Bilbo needed a distraction and he wanted to help if he could, especially if he’d be staying there for an extended amount of time.

“We’re...not hiring,” Thorin replied slowly, when Bilbo made the offer.

“I...could really use a change of scenery, and you know I’ve always loved this place,” Bilbo continued, trying to make his case to Thorin.

“I told you we’re not hiring,” Thorin stated again. “I can barely keep the place running by myself and we don’t have the financials to hire on another person.”

“Listen, I don’t need a substantial paycheck or a paycheck at all to be honest,” Bilbo quickly explained and Thorin gave him a confused frown. “It’s a long story and I’m exhausted. Perhaps we can...I don’t know, discuss this whole thing. But perhaps another night. Can you point me somewhere where I can stay?” Bilbo requested.

“Yeah, I’ll...call over to the nearest bed and breakfast. It’s run by some friends of mine,” Thorin explained as he pulled out his phone and found the number.

“Thank you,” Bilbo sighed as he caught his breath. Bilbo was soon set up in the bed and breakfast run by Thorin’s friends, two brothers and a cousin. Bofur was the one Bilbo had grown to know the most in his three weeks there. His brother, Bombur ran a small cafe in town and wasn’t around all the time. Their cousin Bifur, who was mute due to a head injury, helped out around the bed and breakfast.

Bilbo spent the next day napping on and off, slowly recovering from the past day or two. Being woken from one of his naps, he heard a knock at his door. Pulling himself up, Bilbo reached for his glasses and ran a hand through his curly chestnut colored hair, before he straightened his clothes the best he could and made his way to the door. When he opened it, Thorin stood at the door looking anxious.

“It’s nearly dinnertime and I was wondering if you’d like to have dinner with me to discuss your... erm, demand of employment,” Thorin explained.

“Oh right, hold on. I’ll be down in a moment,” Bilbo told him before swiftly closing the door in Thorin’s face. Bilbo squeezed his eyes shut and sighed, pulling the door open again. “Sorry,” Bilbo apologized as Thorin blinked down at him. “I’ll be down in a moment,” Bilbo repeated. Thorin nodded and slowly turned away as Bilbo closed the door a little softer this time. Bilbo dug through his luggage to find something decent to wear to dinner and quickly changed. He ran a comb through his hair and cleaned the lenses of his glasses. Bilbo left the room and descended the stairs to find Thorin visiting with Bofur.

“There’s our Mister Baggins!” Bofur exclaimed once they spotted him.

“I’m ready to go,” Bilbo told Thorin who nodded stiffly. They left the bed and breakfast and Bilbo silently followed Thorin through town and down a couple blocks to the small cafe owned by Bofur’s brother. When they entered the cafe, a few people who must have been locals greeted Thorin. Thorin nodded back in return as he led Bilbo to sit at one of the many empty tables. Bombur immediately came out and greeted them, handing out menus.

They absently looked over the menus, Thorin already knowing what he was eating and Bilbo trying to decide if he was up to eating anything at all.

It was silent between them as they both stared uncomprehendingly at the menu for a little while. Bombur brought out glasses of water and they both quietly thanked him before ordering their food.

“So, what brought you back to Erebor for such an extended amount of time?” Thorin asked, finally meeting Bilbo's eyes.

“It’s a long story,” Bilbo insisted.

“So you’ve said. We have all evening, so please, do tell,” Thorin countered. Bilbo sighed.

“I’ve…I’ve recently lost my mother,” Bilbo started softly.

“Oh,” Thorin murmured. “My condolences.”

“It’s...nothing. I mean, I had time to prepare of course. But after it actually happened....” Bilbo trailed off. “I didn’t know what to do. I made the proper arrangements and all of that but as soon as that was done I got on a train and headed here. I didn’t even know I was really coming here until the other night as I was looking at last minute train tickets after my mother’s memorial service.”

“I can see why you’d want to get away for a while but I’m really sorry Bilbo. I can’t offer employment to you. The best I can do is negotiate to get you a couple free nights at the bed and breakfast.”

“No, I’ll pay for that,” Bilbo refused. “As I said before...I don’t need a paycheck. My parents have left me quite a bit of money and I’ve had my odd jobs after getting done with school all those years ago, but with my parents gone I’ve got their inheritance and I’ve no need to search for jobs to sustain myself at the moment.”

“Must be nice,” Thorin raised his eyebrows. “I still don’t know if I can accept your employment. I can’t just...have employees that I don’t pay.”

“You can think of me as a volunteer,” Bilbo explained. “Please, Thorin. I just need something to occupy my time,” Bilbo pleaded. “I can help balance your books if you’re having financial issues. I’ve done so before for my father’s bookshop before it closed after his death,” he offered. If he could bury himself in the consuming work, it might prove to be a good distraction.

“That would actually be helpful,” Thorin said. “I haven’t properly worked through that in several years...which I’ve been meaning to…” Thorin muttered.

“Very well!” Bilbo exclaimed. “I look forward to it. I can start tomorrow morning,” Bilbo insisted.

“Hell of a vacation,” Thorin scoffed softly.

“I don’t need it to be a vacation. I need something to occupy myself with and something far away from home and everything I’ve been dealing with. This was the first place to come to mind. I really do love it up here,” Bilbo explained.

“It’s...nice to hear that.” Thorin offered Bilbo a small smile and Bilbo’s chest tightened as he returned the smile. He had felt so relieved when Thorin had agreed to let him help around the centre. They spent the rest of the meal discussing the centre’s current affairs, punctuated by several awkward silences. Bilbo had begun to feel at ease for the first time for several months with the task that now laid before him.

**x**

Bilbo was brought back to the present as he heard the door to the centre open and close and he looked up to see Thorin entering.

“Bilbo, closing time,” Thorin called as he turned the ‘open’ sign to ‘closed.’ Bilbo looked up towards the clock that now read five o’clock. “Looks like a bad storm is rolling in, too,” Thorin sighed.

“Already closing? How is that possible?” Bilbo sighed as he rubbed his eyes. “If you don’t mind, I’ve got a little bit of work left I’d like to finish up and get to a stopping point.”

“How are you able to keep busy when we’ve had no customers?” Thorin grumbled. Thorin seemed to be in a perpetual state of irritation. Bilbo supposed he’d be grouchy too if he had been stuck with a place under so much financial duress.

“I’m doing what you hired me to –”

“Hired is poor word choice considering I don’t pay you and you came here demanding I give you a job,” Thorin interjected. Bilbo ignored the jab.

“And I could ask the same to you. You were running this way and that with Dwalin today,” Bilbo continued. “What do you even do all day? You disappear outside all day until closing time.”

“We’re making well needed repairs on the boats. I haven’t had the time to before you came through since I usually have to stay near the centre in case we get any guests. Now that you can watch the centre I can work further out on the boats with Dwalin. We’re going to have to be ready for peak season,” Thorin explained. “But now it’s closing time and the boats can wait until tomorrow. Just as I’m sure your work can too.”

“Go ahead and lock up. I’ve got a pair of keys, I can let myself out,” Bilbo argued. “I’d rather just finish my task, thank you.”  

Before Thorin could retort there was a loud clap of thunder and the quiet patter of rain on the roof.

“Terrific,” Thorin sighed. “Look, I was going to go get some takeaway from Bombur’s for dinner, would you like some, if you’re so persistent on staying? Maybe you can wait out the storm.”

“I’d love some, thank you,” Bilbo nodded, reaching for his wallet. He pulled out a little bit of money for Thorin to pick them up some takeaway and handed it to him.

“I’ll be back,” Thorin donned his coat and drew up the hood before hurrying out of the front door. Bilbo returned to his work looking through the numbers. He was reviewing the figures that were made during peak season last year and sighed as he glanced at his calculations to operate until the next peak season in a couple months. They weren’t good. Bilbo didn’t know how they’d been getting by beforehand as he looked at the messy notes made by Thorin over the past few years. No one had properly done the books in a couple years and that was what was taking so long. As well as organizing this year's profits and loss, he had to go back and reorganize the past few years as well.

There was another loud clap of thunder, this one sounding much closer than before. The rain began to pick up, sounding even heavier on the roof of the little tourism centre there off the shore of Long Lake. Bilbo hoped Thorin would be able to get the food home without it being drenched. His gaze returned back to the numbers and he sighed.

Perhaps Thorin was right and he needed to break for the night. His eyes were beginning to go cross-eyed from looking at the numbers for too long. As soon as he closed the book and his notes, the lights flickered before finally giving out.

“And now we have a power outage,” Bilbo muttered as he got up to find something to light the centre. There was still fading light outside, but most of it had been obscured by the pressing storm, so there was very little light to see by. However, Bilbo was confident that he could maneuver his way through the entire place with his eyes shut by now if need be. He’d only been there for three weeks but he’d reacquainted himself with the centre and thoroughly explored the nooks and crannies of the behind-the-scenes areas.

Finally he had been able to find some candles in storage that he’d remembered seeing the other day. After quickly lighting all the candles, Bilbo heard the front door open and he left the back room to find Thorin wiping the rain from his eyes.

“Did you keep the food dry?” Bilbo asked.

“I’m fine, thank you for asking,” Thorin replied huskily.

“I’ve set up the backroom for us to eat in,” Bilbo explained, taking the brown paper sack out of Thorin’s hands as Thorin shed his jacket.

“We could go upstairs and actually eat in my apartment,” Thorin offered. “You know, where I have a proper dining room table.”

“Is your apartment and dining room table clean enough to host guests?” Bilbo questioned.

“Hm….I could clear off a section for us to eat,” Thorin sheepishly replied.

“That’s what I thought. Look, I’ve already set us up in the backroom, come on.”

“What’s with the candles?” Thorin asked as he followed behind Bilbo.

“I thought it was romantic,” Bilbo teased. When Thorin said nothing, Bilbo snorted. “I’m joking, Thorin. There was a power outage if you didn’t notice.”

“Oh, right of course,” Thorin quickly sighed. “I was wondering why all the lights were out.”

“To add to the ambience, actually,” Bilbo chuckled. “Thanks for getting dinner.”

“Sure, I was planning on going out anyway. I wasn’t planning on the rainstorm but…” he trailed off. They put the old couch cushions down on the floor and gathered around the low coffee table as they dug into their dinners.

“Did you manage to get to your stopping point?” Thorin asked conversationally.

“No, I didn’t,” Bilbo sighed. “The power went out and I had to find the candles before you got back. Besides, you were right, I was starting to get dizzy staring at those numbers for too long.”

“You can understand why I’ve...neglected to keep up the books properly,” Thorin explained. Bilbo gave a low hum and nodded. He didn’t feel the need to bring up to Thorin just yet how he wasn’t sure if they’d make it through another year or explain how he was baffled that the centre was still operating.

Thorin seemed quiet that evening too, or at least more quiet than usual. They listened to the wind howl, whipping around the visitor centre with a dreadful force.

“I don’t like the sound of that,” Thorin finally spoke up.

“Certainly doesn’t make you feel good, that’s for sure,” Bilbo commented. “You don’t need any more damage to the property as it is.”

Thorin hummed.

“S-Speaking of damages,” Thorin muttered. “You haven’t found any extra in the budget have you?”

“If anything I’ve found you have less money than you think that you have,” Bilbo admitted quietly. “Why?”

“Some of the things that need repairing...they’re going to be costly,” Thorin explained. “This storm is probably only making things worse.

“You don’t have the money in the budget, Thorin,” Bilbo shook his head uncertainly. “You’ll have to wait and see how much the place makes during the peak season.”

“The repairs need to be done before then or the place is sunk,” Thorin argued. “I mean, we can’t give tours with the wear and tear that’s on the boats we have now. It’s not safe. We _need_ the repairs before peak season starts.”

“Well, let me know when you develop the skill to create money out of thin air,” Bilbo retorted. Thorin groaned. They quietly continued their feast of fried fish and chips as the rain continued to beat against the small building.

“Well, I guess that’s it then. We’re sunk,” Thorin sighed. “I’ll have to start looking at selling the place.”

“No, Thorin. You’re not selling the place,” Bilbo sighed.

“What other choice do I have?” Thorin looked imploringly at Bilbo. “You’ve seen the books. By now you must realize it’s hopeless.”

“No, you can’t sell the place. This is your family’s legacy,” Bilbo argued.

“Some legacy,” Thorin scoffed. “I just don’t see how it’s possible to stay open if we don’t have functioning equipment that will be _crucial_ to our peak summer season. There’s no other choice but to close the place and hope we–I can sell it. ”

Bilbo sighed, realizing they were just going to continue to argue the rest of the evening and that was the last thing Bilbo wanted to do. He wished there was something that he could do to help out. Of course selling the place didn’t automatically mean that it would be gone forever. It would just change hands, surely.

His gaze moved to Thorin who looked despondent as he pushed his chips around in his styrofoam takeaway box. Bilbo thought about the history that his family had with the place and his stomach twisted unpleasantly. It would be devastating if Thorin lost his family’s business...his family’s history.

“What we really need is a reason to make this place relevant again to drive in some money before summer,” Bilbo suggested softly.

“You’re going to be my marketer as well as my bookkeeper?” Thorin asked, arched his eyebrow.

“Well, someone has to,” Bilbo sighed. “We’ll think of something, Thorin. Don’t worry.”

Thorin looked up and gave a hesitant nod before returning his gaze back down to his nearly finished meal.

Bilbo swallowed his last bite of food and wiped his hands off on his trouser pants before going to clean up his mess.

“I should be getting out of here, before the storm gets any worse.”

“Mm, I don’t think so,” Thorin hummed. “It’s bad out there. You can’t go out in this. The bed and breakfast is several blocks away.”

“So what do you want me to do?” Bilbo frowned. “ _You_ went out in this,” Bilbo gestured to the rain beating against the window. “I’m sure I’ll be fine. I’ll be drenched, but I’ll be fine.”

“That was before the storm got as bad as it was. Stay here on the couch for tonight.”

“I don’t have a change of clothes or anything,” Bilbo sighed.

“I’ll lend you something,” Thorin muttered before taking Bilbo’s trash and disappearing. Bilbo would much rather be back at his room at the bed and breakfast, but he didn’t necessarily mind staying here either. He had not been looking forward to trying to brave the weather.

Soon Thorin returned with a blanket, pillow and set of night clothes that Bilbo was certain would never fit him.

“Thank you, Thorin,” Bilbo smiled.

“You’re welcome to use my bathroom upstairs if you’d like to bathe,” Thorin offered hesitantly.

“Not tonight, thank you,” Bilbo refused. “I figure I’ll sneak back to the bed and breakfast and grab a proper change of clothes before tomorrow and I’ll bathe then. But thank you, Thorin,” Bilbo repeated, wanting to properly convey how grateful he was for Thorin’s offer.

“Sorry I don’t have a proper guest room for you to stay in,” Thorin shrugged.

“It’s all right,” Bilbo sighed, smiling up at Thorin. “This is fine.”

“Goodnight, Bilbo.” Thorin returned the small smile.

“Night.” Bilbo yawned as he set up his bedding on the old sofa after replacing the couch cushions. Bilbo sighed as he watched Thorin leave the room and head upstairs for his apartment. He went to the small bathroom on that floor and changed into the old t-shirt and sweats Thorin had given him. Just as Bilbo had guessed the clothes were much too large for him. But they were soft and smelled like Thorin and Bilbo didn’t mind so much.

He settled onto the couch and removed his glasses and placed them on the coffee table next to the sofa. Bilbo listened to the rain and wind until he finally drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are, my NaNoWriMo 2015 project finally ready to publish. I'm starting this about the same time of year this fic starts. I don't know/think I'll keep a schedule consistent to the timeline, but I'll try to keep up as much as possible while still working on my other long-term fic as well!  
> Thanks as always to my wonderful beta [Kate](http://anunexpectedjourney.tumblr.com) who has volunteered to beta this fic as well! Thank you, Kate!  
> You can find me [here on tumblr!](http://hobbitunderthemountain.tumblr.com)


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning Bilbo was woken by a gentle hand on his shoulder, causing him to jump a little. 

“Sorry. Made some coffee for you,” Thorin’s voice greeted him softly. Bilbo blinked a few times in the dim morning light. He noted that Thorin’s voice was lower and raspier in the mornings. 

“Mm, thank you.” Bilbo closed his eyes again with an exhausted sigh. 

“Thought you might want to run back to the bed and breakfast now. The storm has cleared and it’s still much too early for anyone else to be about,” Thorin suggested. Bilbo could catch the underlying explanation, ‘be sure to leave before anyone starts making assumptions you stayed for less than proper reasons.’ 

“You’re probably right,” Bilbo sighed as he slowly sat up and swung his legs over the couch. “Then I’ll be right back over. We really do need to decide what you’re going to do about this.” Bilbo gestured to the entire place. 

“I’ll talk to Dwalin about it when he gets in, maybe he has some ideas.” Thorin yawned, scratching absently at his beard. Bilbo watched the fingers move through the prickly hair on Thorin’s chin before blinking and shaking himself out of his trance. 

“All right, I’ll...I’ll be back soon,” Bilbo agreed. Before leaving he realized he still had Thorin’s baggy clothes on that he slept in. 

“Yeah, you might want to change before heading out,” Thorin chuckled. 

“Right, yes,” Bilbo nodded reaching for his folded up clothes from the day before and headed into the bathroom to change. Then, taking the mug of coffee Thorin had made him, he slipped out the front door to the visitor’s centre. The sky was foggy and it looked like it was still lightly drizzling. Everything was cold and wet and Bilbo sighed as he made his way down the street, anxiously looking around. Thorin was right, it looked like mostly everyone was still in bed and not looking out their window to see who was slinking back home in the early morning. 

But then again, Bilbo wasn’t sure what he was so worried about. Clearly there was a bad storm that rolled in last night during the early evening. It wasn’t so odd that Bilbo might have not made it home last night. He had no reason to be defensive about anything. 

Bilbo arrived back at the bed and breakfast and quietly let himself in. 

“Quite a storm we had last night!” The cheery voice of the innkeeper greeted Bilbo.

“Hello, Bofur,” Bilbo sighed. He'd been hoping everyone was still in bed but that rarely seemed to be the case. The family that ran the bed and breakfast were early risers. 

“I didn't see you make it home last night and Bifur was starting to get worried. Bombur thought you were probably staying with Thorin last night, since Thorin stopped by the diner last night and bought  _ two _ takeaway dinners.” Bofur continued. “That the case?”

“Yes, I stayed at the visitor's centre last night since the storm was so bad,” Bilbo answered, excluding Thorin's name altogether. “The sofa in the back room has got to be the lumpiest thing I’ve ever slept on.” Bilbo emphasized he was only on the sofa. 

Before Bofur could continue about how Bilbo might avoid the lumpy couch in the future, Bilbo ended the conversation and headed upstairs to his room. Setting the mug of coffee down on his bedside table he found some clean clothes, quickly showered, and dressed. 

As he went to go find his phone charger in the bedside table drawer, he spotted the photo of him with his mum and dad standing in front of the visitor’s centre with the Long Lake in the background. Bilbo sighed. 

There was absolutely no way he’d let the centre close or let Thorin lose his family’s business. He considered the idea of taking some of the inheritance from his parents’ estate and… donating some of it to the centre. This place held so many good memories of he and his parents, it would make sense to give the centre some of the money they’d left him. 

Bilbo tucked the photo away and decided he’d think about his options later. Finally, he went downstairs to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat while his hair dried. 

“Mister Baggins!” Bombur greeted Bilbo cheerfully. He was already making breakfast and beginning to serve it up on plates. “My brother informed me you just got in. Figured you were staying with Thorin when he ordered two meals to go last night instead of his usual one.” Bombur chuckled. 

“That’s what Bofur said,” Bilbo muttered as he grabbed a plate. “I didn’t mean to worry anyone. I didn’t mean to wake anyone this morning, either. I could have gotten myself a piece of toast.” Bilbo apologized, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose as Bombur scooped some eggs and sausage onto Bilbo’s plate. 

“Nonsense,” Bombur countered. “We were all waking up anyway. Bofur was wanting his breakfast soon as well,” Bombur assured him. 

“Well, thank you,” Bilbo sighed, sitting down with his plate and his borrowed mug, his mind continuing to swim as he tried to come up for a solution for Thorin’s financial situation. 

“Something is troubling you, what is it?” Bofur asked as he entered the kitchen. Bombur handed him a plate as he sat down.  

“I suppose it’s not really my place to ask but...how is it you stay open during the rest of the year when it’s not peak season?” Bilbo asked. “It’s just that...the visitor centre is hardly staying afloat as it is and Thorin’s needing to get repairs done before peak season starts.” 

“It is quite difficult nowadays. I remember it used to be so much easier. We’d have people through here all year round and we never had to worry about the financials,” Bofur explained. “But it’s so quiet now, not many people want to travel all the way up here to see some run down town on a lake. But Bombur has the diner which makes enough year round to keep both that place runnin’ and our bed and breakfast. We also charge quite a bit more during peak season to stay here. Though, I don’t imagine any of our costs are as much as something like keeping up the boats you have over there and maintaining the centre.” 

Bifur quickly signed something to his cousin and Bofur quickly signed something back. Bilbo watched with interest as the silent conversation progressed. Bofur’s face eventually lit up and he signed something back enthusiastically. Bilbo was still getting used to having a housemate who he couldn’t verbally communicate with and was very slowly picking up sign language. 

“Bifur’s saying we need another rush like we had after the documentary was published,” Bofur explained. 

“Which one? The one that was done in ‘93?” Bilbo asked. 

“The very same,” Bofur confirmed. “That summer we had all kinds of people coming up to see the lake for themselves. Kept pretty busy the rest of the year too.” 

Bilbo hummed thoughtfully. 

“Not like we’re going to convince a filmmaker to come up and produce another documentary,” Bilbo sighed as he was starting to finish up his meal. 

“Doubt it,” Bofur sighed. 

“Well, thank you,” Bilbo stood and also signed ‘thank you’ to Bifur as well who nodded with a smile. “I’ve got to get back.” 

“Here.” Bombur handed Bilbo a brown paper sack. “Take Thorin some breakfast too.” 

“Thank you, I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.” Bilbo nodded. 

“If there’s anything else we can do to help out, let us know,” Bofur offered. Bilbo smiled and thanked them once again before grabbing his borrowed mug from Thorin and clutching the brown paper sack breakfast for Thorin. 

When he arrived he went to open the front door and realized they still weren’t technically open yet. Bilbo groaned and reached for his keys to unlock the door. Bilbo could hear Thorin was coming down the stairs from his apartment and entered the shop to see Bilbo just getting in. 

“You were quick,” Thorin commented. 

“Didn’t seem like it. Bofur was already up and questioning where I was last night and Bombur made sure I sat and ate a full breakfast. Made sure I brought some for you too,” Bilbo explained.

“Oh, excellent,” Thorin smiled. “I’ve always loved Bombur’s breakfasts.” Thorin set the paper bag on the front counter and opened it up to dig into the food. “I don’t often get the chance to enjoy them.”

“Thank you for the coffee by the way,” Bilbo muttered as he set his mug down.

“Course,” Thorin nodded as he unwrapped his breakfast and took his first bite.

“Dwalin’s not here yet?” Bilbo asked. Thorin shook his head, his mouth full of the sandwich Bombur had made him. 

“Sounded like he had some washout damage around his drive this morning,” Thorin explained. “He called to let me know he’ll be a little late.”

“What about the tour boats? The pier? Is everything still…?” Bilbo asked hesitantly as he moved around Thorin and back behind the front counter at the centre. He looked through the notes of expenses he’d been sifting through the past couple weeks. 

“In worse state than yesterday,” Thorin sighed. Bilbo sighed and rubbed his eye. 

“We’ll get this figured out before this summer, Thorin,” Bilbo promised. “I’m still working on getting all your financials figured out and then we can start to create a plan on how to keep this place going.” 

“I hope,” Thorin sighed. “I trust you, Bilbo,” Thorin muttered, which made Bilbo stop and consider if he’d heard Thorin correctly.

“Well, I...I hope you’re right to trust me,” Bilbo sighed with a half-smile. 

“I think I really would be looking at selling the place if it weren’t for you,” Thorin admitted quietly and Bilbo blushed profusely. 

“We’ll figure this out.” Bilbo repeated as he reached out and reassuringly touched Thorin’s arm. Bilbo turned his attention back to his notes and where he’d left off last night as Thorin continued to eat his breakfast, leaning against the front counter. As he finished up he awkwardly wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. 

“So...how long are you going to stay here?” Thorin asked quietly. The question had weighed heavily on Bilbo’s mind the past week.

When Bilbo had first arrived he’d planned on only staying a short amount of time. Maybe a week or two just to distract him from home. Now it had now been nearing the end of his third week there in Erebor and he couldn’t imagine packing up and returning home at this point. 

“I don’t know,” Bilbo answered honestly. “I don’t know, but I know I don’t want to leave yet.” Bilbo explained. “I mean I’m no where near finishing this up,” Bilbo gestured to the financial information before him.

“You don’t have to...don’t feel like you have to stay here until you finish untangling the mess I’ve left for myself,” Thorin told him sheepishly. “You’ve given me a good start and I can probably get it done myself before peak season gets here.”

“Thorin, it’s fine. Besides you’ve got the boats to try and fix. I’m enjoying myself, I really am and I want to help you. To be honest, I’m kind of thinking I want to stay through the summer, at least.”

“Really?” Thorin looked relieved. “I can use a second pair of hands around here during the summers. I mean I usually have my sister and her family for part of the summer, but...it’d be great to have you here too. One less thing to worry about.” Thorin smiled gratefully. 

“Trust me, I’ll let you know when I even start to think about leaving,” Bilbo assured the other man. Thorin nodded solemnly. “Now, do you need any help outside? Until Dwalin gets here?” 

“I can show you what’s needing repairs so you have somewhat of an idea what’s needed financially,” Thorin shrugged. “Put your coat on and we’ll head out. We still have another half an hour before we officially open.” 

Bilbo pulled his coat back on and stole one of Thorin’s woolen hats to keep his ears warm. They spent the morning walking the property and Thorin pointing out what needed to be repaired and how much each repair would cost. He ranked them from most important to least important and Bilbo felt like he should be taking notes, but his hands were too cold to even think about making detailed organized notes about repair costs.  

Finally Dwalin arrived and found them standing on the pier looking at the tour boats. 

“Morning,” Dwalin called to let them know he had arrived. 

The two of them turned to greet him with a small smile. 

“Heard you were stuck here with Thorin last night,” Dwalin smiled at Bilbo. “Hope his snoring didn’t keep you up all night.” 

“I slept just fine downstairs on the couch, where I wouldn’t have been able to hear if Thorin was snoring or not, thank you very much,” Bilbo retorted. Dwalin chuckled. 

“How did things fare out here?” Dwalin asked turning to Thorin. 

“It certainly didn’t help anything, that’s for sure,” Thorin sighed. 

“I’ll let you guys assess the damage further, I’m returning to the centre.” Bilbo turned to head back. “We’re opening in less than five minutes, someone should actually be there.”

“Go let the hordes of visitors in,” Dwalin teased. Bilbo rolled his eyes and hurried back along the pier. He let himself in and left the door unlocked as he shed his coat and pulled the hat off his head. Bilbo sat himself down on the chair behind the front counter and opened up the financial records to continue his work. 

By lunchtime he was beginning to get a headache from reviewing and organizing everything so Bilbo headed to the back room. He opened up the old fridge and pulled out some lunch meat and bread he’d been keeping there to make himself sandwiches. Bilbo was almost so distracted he nearly didn’t hear the front door open and close. At first he figured it was either Thorin or Dwalin coming to fetch something of their own to eat. 

“Hello?” a female voice called and Bilbo froze before shaking himself from his trance and hurrying back out to the front of the centre. 

“Ah, hello!” Bilbo frantically called as he emerged. He spotted a woman and her two daughters as they entered the centre. “Good morning!” Bilbo called. “Or afternoon I suppose. Sorry, you were just catching me on my lunch break.” Bilbo held up the sandwich as proof.

“Oh, my apologies for taking you away from your lunch,” the woman smiled.

“No, no, not at all!” Bilbo quickly set the sandwich down on top of his paperwork. “Three tickets to the exhibit?” Bilbo asked excitedly.

“Oh, no. Sorry, not today. We were just passing by and hoping you still had some stuffed animals here in your gift shop? My daughter got one here several years ago and she’s lost it, we were hoping you might still carry them. It was her favorite,” she explained.  

Before Bilbo could answer one of the girls had hurried over to the gift shop portion of the centre.

“Come on, Sigrid! They’re over here!” the youngest girl called. 

“Tilda, there’s no need to yell. I see them,” the elder daughter replied. 

“Looks like she’s already found them,” Bilbo smiled. The woman followed her daughters and talked to them as they picked up the two or three varieties of stuffed animals shaped like the supposed lake-dwelling monster. 

After deciding on one of the stuffed animals they perused the rest of the shop before approaching the front counter again to make their purchase.

“I see that your tour boats are being worked on. When do you start the tours up again for the summer?” the woman asked as Bilbo rang them up. 

“I believe we’re supposed to begin our summer tours on May 1st, but we’ve had some problems recently. Hopefully we’ll be prepared by the time the summer season rolls around,” Bilbo answered hesitantly. 

“You know, I haven’t seen you around before,” the woman scrutinized Bilbo carefully. “Do the Durinsons still own this place?” 

“You must be local,” Bilbo chuckled. “Yes, they do. Well, Thorin does, yes. Thorin’s out there on the boats trying to get them repaired. I’ve only been in town a couple weeks helping out,” Bilbo explained. 

“A friend of the family’s?” the woman asked.

“Something like that,” Bilbo nodded. 

“Do you have a website that you’ll update when tours are open again?” the woman asked. “My husband was just saying the other day he’d like to come up here again sometime this summer. Like I said it’s been a couple years since we’ve come and stayed up here. But we’d hate to make the trip and miss out if the tours aren’t running.”

“We...do have a website I believe,” Bilbo nodded, trying to think about the last time he’d even looked at the website. It was horridly outdated and only had the bare minimum of information such as their hours and how much the tours cost. “We’ll try to have more information up as soon as possible,” Bilbo told her. She thanked Bilbo and told him she’d keep an eye out for it. As they left Bilbo watched as the woman’s oldest daughter typed away at her phone. Bilbo must have sat there thinking for quite a long time because Thorin was suddenly in front of the desk with a concerned look on his face.

“Were those guests? Were they guests that wanted tours?” Thorin asked. “Why did they leave so quickly?”

“What?” Bilbo blinked. “What? Oh, no.” Bilbo shook his head. 

“Who were they then?” Thorin asked.

“Well, yes they were guests. They just weren’t planning on going through the exhibit. I think they were from around here. They knew about your family at least, but they asked if you still owned the place so they must not be  _ local  _ local _ ,”  _ Bilbo rambled. “They were here to replace the daughter’s stuffed Smaug,” Bilbo chuckled. “They did ask about tours though…” Bilbo explained. 

“Bilbo, you seem distracted,” Thorin muttered.  

“The website…” Bilbo mumbled. “They asked about the website.”

“What?” Thorin asked, scrunching his face up. 

“That’s how we’re going to become relevant again,” Bilbo continued. “I need to...we need…” 

“Bilbo, are you okay?” Thorin asked. Bilbo shook his head and blinked a few times. 

“This morning I was at the bed and breakfast and Bifur mentioned something about the boom you had after the documentary in ‘93,” Bilbo started.

“Sure, and we had a huge boom in ‘79 when there was a ‘sighting’. That was the summer you and your parents visited the first time,” Thorin nodded. Bilbo smiled at Thorin, discovering that Thorin remembered the year his family visited. Though Bilbo quickly realized it probably wasn’t hard to remember when that was the year they had a large boom that kicked off the whole business. 

“Yes, okay, but no one cares about the sighting in ‘79 anymore,” Bilbo told him. Thorin frowned. “You know what I mean. Don’t look so upset. I only mean that it’s not relevant anymore.” 

“What do you plan on doing exactly?” Thorin asked. 

“Look, we have something you didn’t have back in ’79 or ‘93,” Bilbo told him, fishing around in his pocket for something. Finally he pulled out his phone and displayed it to Thorin. 

“A...phone?” Thorin’s frowned deepened. “I’m pretty sure we had phones ‘93. Unless you mean 1893, of course. Then, no. We didn’t have phones.” 

“No, Thorin. Social media. The internet,” Bilbo told him. “We can make this place relevant again. Oh, how have I not seen this earlier?” 

“Because it’s not your job to be my marketer,” Thorin muttered. 

“And  _ you’re _ doing such a spectacular job at it.” Bilbo rolled his eyes. “You need someone working on marketing if you ever want to earn the money you need to repair the boats.”

“So with social media we’ll potentially be able to generate more business during peak season,” Thorin nodded as he ignored Bilbo’s jab. “But that doesn’t fix our problem just yet,” Thorin protested. “We still need to get repairs done _ before _ then.”

“I’m...still working on that,” Bilbo massaged his temple. 

“I’m...sorry, Bilbo,” Thorin sighed. “We just...I just need the money to make the repairs on the boats. We can worry about our social media presence and make the other repairs after the summer passes. Just focus on finding us enough money to do that at least. One boat, that’s all we need,” Thorin pleaded quietly. 

“Right, I’ll...I’ll find the money in the budget for the boat,” Bilbo noted to himself. 

“All right, Dwalin and I are going to keep working on what we can,” Thorin told him. “Let me know if you need anything else.” 

Bilbo worked the rest of the day on reorganizing what funds he could to put into repairing one of the boats. Thorin said it as if it was going to be easy… as if Bilbo had neglected enough pockets of money to suddenly scrape together enough for repairs. 

Even though Bilbo still had quite a bit to work through, he was quite sure he wouldn’t find the funding Thorin needed. He spent the entire afternoon reviewing the work he’d already done to see if he could find anything extra.

When he started to get frustrated with deciding which money should be moved to make room for the necessary repairs, he went to the rarely-used computer sitting on the desk. 

Bilbo wasn't very technically savvy, but he knew how to work his phone and could manage his way through using his own computer easily enough. 

However, he was still a little old-fashioned when it came to the essentials, such as organizing the books. It was how he'd done it for his father and his book shop and that's how they were when Bilbo had arrived in Erebor, so there was no point in trying to reinvent the wheel.

But now Bilbo was starting to see a use for all this technology. Over the next couple days Bilbo spent hours searching the internet on how to update websites and create social media pages. Within no time he was setting up pages for the visitor centre. He still had a ways to go before grasping how to actually go about changing their website, but at least he had been able to set up the social media pages. Those were straightforward enough. 

However, he was still struggling to find the means within the financial records for the proper repairs that the boats needed. He finally admitted defeat and realized there was never going to be enough money no matter where he pulled from. He knew he’d have to tell Thorin as soon as possible. Before Bilbo left the centre for the night he confronted Thorin about the bad news. 

“Thorin, we need to talk,” Bilbo hesitantly approached Thorin. Thorin gave a defeated sigh already anticipating what Bilbo had to say.

“It's about the finances, isn't it?” Thorin sighed. “You haven’t found the money.”

“I haven’t completely finished going through everything but unless you have a winning lotto ticket stashed away in those piles of receipts I’m going to go ahead and make the assumption that it just can’t be done.”

“I understand,” Thorin nodded. “I guess it’s better to know now than to continue on with false hope, I suppose.” 

“Now, hold on. This isn’t the end,” Bilbo assured him. He pulled out the book he'd been recording the financial information and opened it, pulling something out from between the pages. “This...is for you.” Thorin looked confused and took what Bilbo was handing him. Thorin looked down and studied the slip of paper Bilbo had handed him. It was a cheque. When Thorin didn’t reply Bilbo cleared his throat. 

“Bilbo, I can’t.” Thorin shook his head. “I can’t take this,” Thorin sighed. 

“Please, Thorin. I can’t let you lose this place,” Bilbo urged him to take it. “And you  _ are  _ going to lose it if you don’t have _ any _ boats ready for this season.” 

“I can’t take a penny of your inheritance. Not when it’s what you’re living off of. Not when I’m not even paying you,” Thorin argued. 

“No,” Bilbo shook his head. “It’s fine.”

“Let me sell the place, pay you properly for everything you’ve done for me and you can return home,” Thorin shook his head. 

The idea of Thorin sending him on his way made the panic rise in Bilbo’s throat. The last thing he wanted to do was return home right now. It would be accepting defeat and he’d return and be just as depressed as when he’d left, knowing he’d failed to help this place… to help Thorin. No, he was determined to keep one of the few places operating that still held vivid, happy memories of both of his parents. 

“Thorin, I’m not taking no for an answer.” Bilbo refused to take the cheque back. Thorin sighed, staring at the piece of paper in his hands. It was quiet for a while. Bilbo’s gaze stayed on Thorin while Thorin stared down at Bilbo’s significant contribution to his family’s legacy. 

“I’m going to pay you back. Every last bit of it,” Thorin promised. 

“You really don’t have to,” Bilbo assured him. “This is a donation, not a loan. I’d like to donate it in memory of my parents. I mean since I still have so many good memories with them here and this money is part of the inheritance from them. Maybe once our summer season is done you could put up a plaque somewhere, if you really want to do something for me.”

“Of course,” Thorin gave him a soft smile. “And who knows, maybe we’ll have such a good season this year I will be able to pay it back. I cannot accept this much money from you with no plan of paying you back. You’re going to have to let me pay you something by the end of all this.”

“All right,” Bilbo sighed. “We’ll figure something out.” 

“Thank you,” Thorin murmured, moving in to embrace Bilbo and Bilbo found his nose pressed to Thorin’s collarbone. Thorin’s grip loosened as he quickly pulled away, mumbling a quick, embarrassed apology.

“It’s all right, Thorin,” Bilbo smiled. “I’m glad I could help.” They were quiet for a little while longer as they gazed at each other in the fading light of day. “I-I’ll see you tomorrow, alright?” Bilbo finally broke the silence between them and let himself out. 

“Goodnight, Bilbo,” Thorin softly bid him goodbye.    
  



	3. Chapter 3

Within a week the repairs on one of the boats were well underway thanks to Bilbo’s money. It seemed as if the money had lifted a lot of stress off of Thorin’s shoulders and Bilbo was glad he was able to do at least that much. 

Thorin invited Bilbo to stay for dinner that weekend after work to thank him again for the loan. Bilbo assured him it wasn’t necessary, but Thorin insisted. 

Now, Bilbo was picking lint off his best cardigan as he waited for Thorin to come in and lock up for the night. He swallowed his nerves as Thorin appeared at the door in the early evening and Bilbo finished organizing his work pile.

“Now, will you join me upstairs?” Thorin asked, giving Bilbo an embarrassed smile. 

“I’d love to.” Bilbo closed up everything he had been working on for the evening. He hesitantly followed Thorin upstairs to his apartment. 

“Erm, I suppose I should wash up a little since I’ve been out there working all day...” Thorin muttered before disappearing into his room. 

“O-Okay,” Bilbo nodded as he clasped his hands behind his back. He could hear Thorin in his room and Bilbo awkwardly shifted his weight between both legs a couple times. Bilbo wasn’t sure if he should take a seat or if it was odd if he just stood there while Thorin cleaned up for their...no—date certainly wasn’t the right word. Well, it was a social ‘date’ technically. His mind went blank as he searched for a better word to describe their evening together. 

Instead he decided to distract himself by looking around the small apartment. Bilbo had never actually been up into Thorin’s small apartment and it was quite a bit smaller than Bilbo had imagined. He was pleasantly surprised to find that the apartment had been cleaned meticulously. Bilbo smiled broadly at the thought of Thorin putting so much effort into entertaining Bilbo for the evening. 

Finally, Thorin emerged after changing into fresh clothes and taming his hair a bit more and—was that cologne? Bilbo had to suppress his laughter. He couldn’t believe the effort Thorin was putting into the evening. 

“You look nice,” Bilbo commented with an encouraging smile. He watched as Thorin’s face turned bright pink. 

“Thank you,” Thorin mumbled. “You do too...I mean you have all day, I suppose. But you look nice too.” 

“So what fine cuisine will we be having for dinner?” Bilbo teased Thorin. “Or are we going to get takeaway?”

“No takeaway. I told you I was going to cook dinner for you, but I mean...it’s nothing too elaborate or fancy.” Thorin chuckled. “Pasta,” he explained. 

“Ah,” Bilbo smiled. “Well, I still appreciate you going to all this trouble for me,” Bilbo thanked Thorin. 

“It’s the least I could do,” Thorin replied as he began to pull out the pots and utensils he needed. “After everything you’ve been doing for this place...I should have been doing this before you handed me part of your inheritance,” Thorin mumbled. Bilbo blushed as he sat at Thorin’s dining table, watching him fumble around to prepare the meal. 

“Would you like some help?” Bilbo asked. Thorin began to refuse before he accidentally dropped one of the pots. “I’ve missed cooking in a proper kitchen. Let me help,” Bilbo offered as he stepped into Thorin’s kitchen. The two of them cooked side by side in content silence. Finally, as they let the water boil and the sauce simmer, Thorin broke the silence. 

“My sister and her family are coming up here next week,” Thorin told Bilbo. 

“Oh?” Bilbo arched an eyebrow. He knew Thorin had siblings and that his sister had two sons but that was all. 

“I’ve...told her what a generous donation you’ve made to our little centre and she wanted to come up to thank you for herself. Also, the boys have Easter holidays coming up,” Thorin explained. “They haven’t been up here since last summer so they’d like to come up here and stay for a little bit.” 

“Dís, right?” Bilbo asked. 

“Yes,” Thorin chuckled. “You remember her?” 

“A little,” Bilbo nodded. “She was finishing secondary school when I was up here to write my thesis, correct?” Bilbo asked. Thorin nodded. “Doubt I’d recognize her today, though,” Bilbo admitted.

“I’ll arrange a formal introduction when they get here,” Thorin assured him. 

“I look forward to it.” Bilbo blushed, his stomach twisting itself into knots at the prospect of meeting more of Thorin’s family. Or rather, meeting them again, but this time mattered a little more than the first time or two. 

Soon dinner had finished cooking and they sat at Thorin’s small dining table. Thorin poured some wine for both he and Bilbo.

“Wine?” Bilbo raised his eyebrows. 

“Nothing too expensive I assure you. I’ve had this bottle for a while… never quite had the occasion to open it,” Thorin explained sheepishly. “Figured tonight was as good as any.”

“Well, I’m honored.” Bilbo blushed as he picked up his glass. Thorin smiled contentedly as he sat down.

“So, how goes the ‘online presence’ project?” Thorin questioned.

“I’ve got us a Facebook page.” Bilbo smiled broadly. “We’ve got five likes,” he boasted. 

“And is...that a lot?” Thorin questioned, uncertainly. 

“No,” Bilbo laughed. “Absolutely not. What I really need to do is figure out how to update the website. The official website.” 

“Maybe Fíli can help you with it. He’s probably more... technologically inclined than I am even though he’s still only fifteen.” 

“I’m not very technologically inclined either,” Bilbo shrugged. “That’d be nice if he could help. Still, updating the website still… doesn’t feel like it’ll do much for us. There needs to be something to draw people up here.” Bilbo sighed. “Get people to actually look at our Facebook page and website and all that nonsense.” 

“How do you propose to do that?” Thorin asked. 

“Mm, doing something ridiculous, probably,” Bilbo suggested nonchalantly. 

“And...what do you have in mind, Bilbo?” Thorin pressed. 

“It’s really...it’s stupid, really,” Bilbo mumbled, staring down into his pasta. 

“Come on, you have an idea,” Thorin prodded. “Out with it already.” 

“We should fake a sighting,” Bilbo quickly responded with a flinch, preparing himself for Thorin’s scoff or laughter. 

“You’re joking,” Thorin replied as a grin began to spread across his features. 

“It’s stupid,” Bilbo nodded. 

“It’s...it’s stupid and ridiculous but I...I like it,” Thorin nodded. 

“Seriously?” Bilbo raised his eyebrows and Thorin continued to nod. 

“It might just work,” Thorin pondered. “And it sounds like the stupid ridiculousness the boys would like. When they’re in town this weekend, we’ll work on that.” 

“That sounds nice,” Bilbo smiled. They continued their dinner in silence for a little while; the sounds of silverware against plates was the only thing that filled the air. Bilbo glanced at Thorin who was gazing softly at him and Bilbo quickly averted his eyes with a smile. 

“Speaking of family…” Thorin broke the silence with an awkward cough. “Have you talked to any of your family recently?” 

“Not recently,” Bilbo muttered. “No.”

“Just… I imagine they’d be worried for you, disappearing like you did after…” Thorin trailed off.

Bilbo had at least phoned one or two of his cousins to let them know where he was in case they came around the house to see how he was doing. Since he told the cousins who were more prone to gossiping, Bilbo had hoped they’d already told the rest of his family. Of course, he’d told them he was only planning on being here three weeks at the very most and he was expecting phone calls from family any day now asking when he’d be back. 

When Bilbo didn’t reply immediately, Thorin sighed. 

“Anyway, I’m glad you picked Erebor to escape to. I’ll just be disappointed when you do choose to leave.”

“Well, we don’t have to worry about that just yet,” Bilbo told Thorin. “I told you I’m staying through the summer, all right?”

After they finished dinner Thorin poured them both another glass of wine and Bilbo began to protest.

“You know I’m never going to drink this by myself,” Thorin smiled warmly at him. “You're obligated to help me finish this.” Bilbo muttered incoherently and accepted the second drink. “Anyway, I was thinking of taking a small day trip tomorrow,” Thorin told Bilbo as he finished pouring the glass. “With the place closed on Mondays I figured I could actually take the day off for once.” Bilbo nodded along as he sipped at his new glass of wine. “I was thinking….that maybe you’d like to come with me?” Thorin asked quietly.

“Sounds like it might be fun,” Bilbo commented with a hum. He had been planning to go out and collect groceries and do his laundry but he could forgo those chores for tomorrow. “Where exactly will we be going?” Bilbo asked. 

“Just outside of town,” Thorin answered. “I’ll explain more when we get there.” 

“All right, Mister Mysterious,” Bilbo replied, his stomach fluttering at the thought of Thorin taking him on a day trip, just the two of them. They spent another hour or two talking as they finished the bottle of wine. By the end of the evening they were both flushed and giggling at everything.

Once they realized how late it was getting and the bottle had been emptied an hour ago, Thorin offered to walk Bilbo back home to the bed and breakfast. They made their way carefully down the stairs to the actual centre. Thorin unlocked the door and let them out. 

“It’s so quiet,” Bilbo breathed as they started down the road, the cold night air blowing against his warm flushed face.

“Of course it is,” Thorin smiled. “It’s the middle of the night in a town where everything closes down at five in the evening.” 

Bilbo quickly linked his arm with Thorin’s as they started off down the road to try to keep up with Thorin’s long legs. They were both quiet and smiled to themselves as they made their way down the street and over a block or two before they eventually stopped outside of the bed and breakfast. 

“Are you all right here or do you need an escort inside?” Thorin arched his eyebrows as he smiled down at their linked arms. 

“I’m quite all right,” Bilbo confirmed, trying to sober up a bit. “Thank you for dinner and for the wine and for walking me home.” 

“Thank you,” Thorin smiled. “For your very generous contribution. That’s what this evening was all about.” 

“Of course,” Bilbo blushed. “I would never ever let you lose any of this. Never. We’re going to do this,” Bilbo proclaimed, holding up his index finger for emphasis.

“Do what?” Thorin laughed quietly. 

“Everything,” Bilbo answered vaguely with a soft, tipsy chuckle. “We’re going to do everything.” 

“All right, you’re not making any sense now. You need to get some sleep.” Thorin planted his hands on Bilbo’s shoulders. “I’ll be here in the morning to pick you up.”

“Oh! Our mystery trip together.” Bilbo nodded. “Of course, and what time do I need to be ready and presentable?” Bilbo asked. 

“I’ll be by about ten tomorrow,” Thorin told him. “I was thinking earlier but given how late our night went tonight I’d say the later the better.” 

“Sounds good to me,” Bilbo confirmed with a nod. 

“I’ll...I’ll see you tomorrow then,” Thorin smiled and hesitantly wrapped his arms around Bilbo. This hug was brief and a little more hesitant than the other night when Bilbo had given Thorin the money. 

“Tomorrow, yes,” Bilbo smiled before heading up to the bed and breakfast’s front door. He stumbled and caught himself, giving a small chuckle. 

“Are you all right?” Thorin called. 

“I’m fine!” Bilbo laughed a little hysterically. “Don’t… don’t–I’m fine! I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” 

Bilbo clumsily let himself into the bed and breakfast and half expected Bofur on the other side, but no one was there to interrogate him about his late night dinner date with Thorin. Pulling himself upstairs, he sleepily dragged himself into bed and promptly fell asleep. 

**x**

Bilbo woke up to a few loud knocks on his door. 

“Bilbo? Are you awake?” Bofur called from the other side of the door. Bilbo jumped up and reached for his glasses, which had fallen off of his face when he fell asleep last night. Once his glasses were resting on the bridge of his nose, he reached for his phone as the knocking continued. Finally waking his phone up, he glanced at the time. 10:03. 

“Yeah!” Bilbo called blearily as he scrambled to his closet to find fresh clothes to wear. “Yeah, I’m awake!” 

“Thorin’s downstairs waiting for ya,” Bofur continued, through the door. “Said you had a day trip planned today.” Bilbo stayed silent as he quickly threw on new clothes and hurried to the bathroom to try to freshen up. “What time did you get in last night?” Bofur asked. “Thought for sure you stayed over at Thorin’s again, until Thorin himself came to pick you up this morning.”

“Tell him I’ll be down in a moment,” Bilbo called. He cursed silently under his breath. Pulling on his coat and wool hat, Bilbo hoped that it would disguise how terrible he looked, having only woke up five minutes previously and having almost no time at all to dress. 

Finally Bilbo hurried down the stairs and followed the sound of Bofur’s voice. In the kitchen he found Bofur and Thorin visiting. 

“Sorry,” Bilbo muttered. “I’m ready to go.” 

“Thorin was telling me you two had a late night,” Bofur grinned broadly at his boarder. 

“Yes, later than I was intending,” Bilbo sighed, glaring at Thorin, a bit upset that Thorin was divulging things that Bilbo wished wouldn’t be shared with everyone in town. 

“Sorry,” Thorin apologized quietly, catching the irritation in Bilbo’s gaze. 

“Let’s go,” Bilbo urged him, wanting to get out of the home before more questions arose. “I’m eager to see where we’re going to end up today,” Bilbo explained. 

“Of course,” Thorin nodded. “See you, Bofur.” Thorin bid the innkeeper goodbye and led himself and Bilbo out. Bilbo’s stomach dropped when he saw what was sitting outside of the bed and breakfast. 

Thorin’s motorbike. 

He should have known when Thorin offered to take him out of town that they’d be on the back of his motorbike which was always parked beside the visitor’s centre. The entire night had gone to his head and he had completely forgotten Thorin’s only form of transportation. It was easy to forget because Thorin so rarely used it since everything in town was within walking distance. 

“You’re joking,” Bilbo breathed as Thorin handed him a helmet. 

“I would ask if you’re afraid of messing up your hair, but you’re already hiding your hair with a hat so I doubt the helmet will make a difference,” Thorin teased him as he mounted the bike. 

“It’s not that, you idiot. It’s just,” Bilbo gestured to the entire bike. 

“Yes?” Thorin raised an eyebrow as he secured his own helmet. “You knew I drove this old thing didn’t you?”

“I suppose I did,” Bilbo sighed. “It’s just –! I am a  _ respectable _ –! D’you really expect me to…?” Bilbo gestured once again to the bike. 

“Look, if you don’t want to come with me, you don’t have to,” Thorin’s expression began to fall. Bilbo gave a defeated sigh. 

“Oh, all right,” Bilbo sighed exasperatedly. “If only my father could see me now,” Bilbo grumbled under his breath. 

“On the back of a hoodlum’s motorbike?” Thorin supplied. 

“Yes,” Bilbo snapped as he put the helmet on. “You’re not a hoodlum,” Bilbo quickly corrected himself.

“Would your mother approve, though?” Thorin asked softly, unsure if he should bring up the topic or not. 

“Oh, probably,” Bilbo sighed. After a moment he fully conceded. His mother would be beyond happy he’s up here doing ridiculous things he would have never even dreamed of if he had stayed in Hobbiton. “All right, how do I get on?” Bilbo hesitantly asked, staring at the motorbike as if it were going to reach out and bite him. 

“Are you serious?” Thorin grinned but then realized Bilbo was absolutely serious. Thorin sighed. “Put your hand on my shoulder if you need support.” Bilbo reached out hesitantly and placed his hand on Thorin’s shoulder. Swinging his leg over the motorbike, he took a seat behind Thorin and found his footing. “Hold on,” Thorin called over his shoulder before the bike roared to life. Bilbo squeaked and quickly wrapped his arms around Thorin’s waist. Despite feeling terrified by the motorbike, Bilbo smiled a little stupidly to himself. Thorin knew exactly what he was doing inviting Bilbo on this day trip, knowing full well that they would take his bike. 

Bilbo watched as the small town flew by them as Bilbo gently rested his cheek against Thorin’s broad back. Soon they were leaving the town, the lake to their back. It was another ten or fifteen minutes before the motorbike slowed. They’d entered the more forested mountainous area around the lake and the roads were quite isolated. 

When they finally came to a stop and Thorin killed the engine, Bilbo pulled himself away from Thorin and properly looked around. They had stopped outside a large, very old building. From the looks of it, the building probably dated back to the 1880s.

“What is this place?” Bilbo asked as he removed his helmet. It looked like no one had been anywhere near this place in at least a decade, if not more. “It’s...beautiful, in a strange way,” Bilbo admitted. 

“This is the Durinson Estate,” Thorin answered, brusquely. 

“What?” Bilbo furrowed his brow glancing at Thorin before his gaze turned back to the abandoned mansion that stood before them. “This...this place was your family’s?” Bilbo asked. 

“A long time ago,” Thorin told him, looking upon his ancestral home. “My family owned this place. We owned it up until the mid-eighties.” 

“Are we trespassing right now?” Bilbo stopped in his tracks and looked around as if someone would jump out of the woods to arrest them.

“No,” Thorin sighed. “My family abandoned it when it was too much to keep up. There was no interest from anyone to buy it and my father didn’t want the bank owning the property, thinking one day we could do something with it. So we just packed up and left. Moved into town to be closer to the centre where most of our money came from then. Sometimes when I’m feeling nostalgic I come up here.” 

“It’s...it’s a little sad,” Bilbo admitted. “So you...you remember when it was in its prime?” Bilbo asked quietly. 

“Prime isn’t really the word I would use,” Thorin chuckled. “It was starting to fall apart and those vines there were already overtaking the north side of the house and the floorboards creaked...but it was where my grandparents lived and it's where my parents and siblings lived until I was eleven years old.” 

They walked around the old house for a little while and Bilbo took in the fascinating architecture.

Passing by a small abandoned road on the other side of the property, Bilbo looked down it curiously. 

“What’s down this way?” Bilbo asked, peering down the old road. 

“Ah, the old caretaker house I believe,” Thorin began to lead him down the path. “We used to play in it as kids since it had been abandoned well before I was born. It probably wasn’t the safest, now that I think about it.”

It was a short walk and the path opened up to reveal an old stone cottage. The windows had been broken in and the door looked like it was barely holding onto the hinges. 

“Definitely looks like a safe place for children to play,” Bilbo remarked sarcastically. “It’s amazing you’re still alive.” 

“Very true,” Thorin smiled and rolled his eyes before pulling Bilbo back down the path towards the main house. 

“I honestly can’t imagine living in a place like this,” Bilbo sighed as they arrived back at the mansion. “It must have been magnificent.”

They sat on the old stone steps leading up to the front entrance and ate the picnic lunch that Thorin had packed for them. 

“Very thoughtful,” Bilbo commented as he unwrapped his sandwich. “Much more so than I was.” 

“In your defense you had no idea where we were going or how long we’d be gone,” Thorin told him.

“And in my defense,  _ someone _ got me to drink half a bottle of wine last night,” Bilbo added. 

“Don’t forget, I drank the other half,” Thorin reminded Bilbo. 

“Yet you seem entirely unaffected. I suppose that’s due to your...stature,” Bilbo commented, his ears burning. “You handle alcohol much better than I can, I suppose.” 

“You are a bit of a lightweight. I did notice that last night,” Thorin commented with a small smile. 

“It’s embarrassing,” Bilbo sighed with a small chuckle. 

“It’s...endearing,” Thorin decided. Bilbo gave him an amused look. 

“I’m...endearing when I’m slightly drunk?” Bilbo questioned as if he hadn’t heard correctly. Thorin hummed, his own face burning red. When the awkward silence that followed became too much, Bilbo quickly tried to get them out of the hole they were digging. 

“When was this place built?” Bilbo asked, spurring a lengthy educational response from Thorin.

He talked about the reason why his family first came to live in Erebor and the mining industry that used to be prevalent in the mountains that surrounded the Long Lake. Thorin explained that was where the Durinson’s fortune came from: a mine established by Thorin Durinson the First. The entire mine was completely operational from the 1850s. 

“The First?” Bilbo interjected. “So are you Thorin Durinson the Second?” 

“Yes, my full title is Thorin Durinson II,” Thorin replied. 

“Well, now. I feel like I’m truly in the company of someone of royal stature,” Bilbo commented mockingly. 

“It’s a family name,” Thorin defended himself. 

“A lot of pressure to be named after the bloke who built this whole...empire.” Bilbo shrugged. 

“I never thought of it that way,” Thorin shrugged. “It’s always just been an old family name to me.”

“You can’t tell me you never felt a little pressure that came with the name,” Bilbo furrowed his brows. 

“I suppose I felt it a little bit when my siblings moved away after my parents died,” Thorin admitted. “That I was the only one left to hold everything together.” 

“So what happened to the mining business and how did your family get into the tourist business?” Bilbo asked. He already had done a little research into the background of the region in his thesis paper but he felt it would be better if he let Thorin tell it, instead of just acting as if he knew everything in Thorin’s past. He had even tried to get an interview or two out of Thorin when he was visiting while writing his thesis but at the time Thorin was not so inclined to sit with Bilbo and answer a great deal of personal questions. 

Thorin went on to explain that in the 1950s there was a fatal gas leak down in the mines, killing nearly fifty miners. They could never find the source of the gas and instead of risking more lives to try to repair the problem, the mine was shut down. 

The entire speech sounded like Thorin had told it before. Perhaps it was one of the talking points on the tour Thorin gave. It occurred to Bilbo that he had never actually gotten a tour from Thorin himself before this and he wondered if he could possibly request one once the repairs on the boats were made. 

Suddenly Thorin got quiet though and his words were a little less planned and articulated. He talked about how both his grandfather and father had been somewhat exposed to the gases down in the mines. His grandfather’s mind slowly deteriorated and finally it drove him mad. He ended up staying in a critical care ward of the hospital down in Dale for the remainder of his life. 

As for his father, it hadn’t been enough to give him the full extent of the illness but enough to shorten his life. His father had gotten ill a little over a decade earlier and died sometime after that. The doctors weren’t sure of the exact cause but Thorin explained that he was fairly certain it had to have been an effect from being down in the mines as a young man. 

He grew quiet as his story tapered off and he busied himself with his sandwich. 

“I’m sorry,” Bilbo muttered. “It truly sounds terrible.” 

“You asked how we got started in the tourism business,” Thorin suddenly remembered. “Well, you must know a great deal of this already if you wrote your Master’s Thesis about it.” 

“Yes, well,” Bilbo sighed. “I’d like to hear your point of view, if you’d please.” 

Thorin chuckled. 

“Well, you know that the legend of Smaug goes back a centuries. There was a story nearly fifteen hundred years ago about a monster being spotted, not in the Long Lake but rather in the River Running that runs down from the mountains and into the lake,” Thorin started and Bilbo nodded along, enjoying the refresher in the story of the lake-dwelling monster. Thorin recounted the supposed sightings and Bilbo couldn’t help but smile. He’d very much enjoyed researching all of the supposed sightings. Mostly everything had been a hoax or an accidental misinterpretation of a real life animal. No matter how absurd the accounts were, part of Bilbo still wanted to believe there was something in that lake. 

“Okay, you’ve told me about all the sightings of the beast, tell me how your family got involved,” Bilbo prompted. 

“Yes, I’m getting there!” Thorin smiled. “When Erebor was mostly a mining town and not the...tourist trap we have now, there were supposed sightings of the beast. Stories were circulated throughout the town to entertain those miners who spent a majority of their year up here to mine. Of course when the mines were shut down there was nothing left here in Erebor other than the old tale of the sea serpent in the lake. My family wasn’t keen on leaving the only home they’d had for the past century and decided to profit off of the old tale.” 

“The photo taken in 1979 was from someone in your family,” Bilbo prompted. 

“My father,” Thorin confirmed. 

“That’s what started it all, right?” Bilbo pressed further. 

“Yes, but it was a hoax,” Thorin chuckled. “Obviously you know that.” 

“I did know that,” Bilbo grinned. “Remember I wrote nearly fifty-three pages on the myth and the area and your family. I think it’s pretty common knowledge at this point that it was a hoax.” 

“Which is exactly what you’re planning to do,” Thorin realized. “I can’t believe it. You’re using the same stupid tactics my father and grandfather did and they had the excuse of being a little mad at the time from the gases in the mine.” 

“They’re not stupid if they bring people up to visit,” Bilbo shrugged. “You should elaborate more on the impressive mining empire up here in the centre you know. You have a lot of information about the beast and the legend but you should include more of the mining and how your family came to be here in the first place. You can make it more of a historical site and a museum instead of a tourist trap as you so aptly put it. It’d draw people who love history, not just people passing through on holiday or those who chase fictional myths.” 

“It drew you up here. I think you’re considered both, are you not?”

“What? Someone who loves history and an idiot who chases fictional myths?” Bilbo asked with a chuckle.

“Yes,” Thorin confirmed. 

“We’ll work on the mining information soon, okay?” Bilbo nudged him. “Couldn’t hurt to add to the place a little more.” 

They finished up their picnic lunch and stood up. 

“Can we go inside?” Bilbo asked, looking back up at the mansion. Thorin frowned uncertainly at Bilbo. “It’s all right, we don’t have to.” 

“We can,” Thorin shrugged. “I just haven’t been inside for a very long time.” 

“It’s all right, Thorin. We really don’t have to,” Bilbo assured him. 

“It’s fine. It’d probably be good to take a peek inside and you’re curious, I know.” Thorin gave Bilbo a small smile.

Bilbo returned the smile excitedly. All afternoon he could only imagine what the place had looked like inside. He knew the building had fallen into disrepair but he was sure it was still gorgeous in a haunting way. Thorin pulled out his keychain and found one of the keys on the keyring. Following the stairs up to the grand front doors, Thorin inserted the key into the padlock that was holding it closed. Thorin put his weight into budging the front door open and Bilbo hesitantly followed him into the old abandoned mansion. Dust had been kicked up and gave Bilbo a small coughing fit. As his coughs slowed down and his eyes adjusted to the light he looked around. The front entry way was a grand, formal look to it even though it was in such a bad state. Bilbo stared in awe for a long time. Thorin seemed a little distracted as he looked around and Bilbo realized how hard it must have been for Thorin to see the home he had grown up in, in such a poor state. 

“Amazing how I’ve gone from living in this when I was a boy to the cramped apartment that can hardly be called an apartment,” Thorin commented. “The money just continued to dwindle. After my mother died and my siblings moved away it was easier to just convert the upstairs storage space into a living space to save on living costs,” Thorin continued.

“What if...what if Erebor becomes so popular again you can afford to restore this place?” Bilbo mused. “Wouldn’t that be grand to return to living here? Or would it dredge up too many...unpleasant memories of losing your grandfather and father?” Bilbo questioned. 

“It would be bittersweet, I imagine,” Thorin gave a sad smile to the grand mansion. “I’d probably go mad after living in such a small space. What would I even do with a home as large as this? But no use in imagining too much. I doubt we’d ever become that popular again for me to have the money to restore this place.” Thorin sighed sadly. 

“You never know.” Bilbo stepped up beside Thorin. 

“I know what Dís will say when she meets you,” Thorin mumbled, looking down at Bilbo. 

“What’s that?” Bilbo asked bashfully. 

“That you’re so good for me,” Thorin admitted. “I’ve grown cynical over the years and come to hate this place at times. Since you’ve gotten here I’ve only been inspired to make this place better. For once I’m excited and actually hopeful that we’ll bring this place back to life.” Bilbo had no words to respond to Thorin’s kindness. “I just hope when you do leave, you promise to come back at least once a year...maybe to give us your annual input.” 

“Tourist consultant,” Bilbo smiled. 

“Something like that,” Thorin nodded enthusiastically. 

“We’ll see.” Bilbo patted Thorin’s arm reassuringly. They slowly made their way through the ground floor of the mansion. Thorin didn’t want them to go up to any of the upper levels in case any of the flooring was unstable and couldn’t support their weight. 

They entered the drawing room, which looked as if it had a long wall of magnificent large windows lining one side of the room. They had long since been boarded up, but some of the sunlight still leaked through cracks in the boarding, giving Bilbo a slight idea as to how grandiose this room would have looked in its prime. 

“Oh, I wish I could have seen this place back then,” Bilbo sighed as he quickly made his way to the center of the empty room. He spun around, trying to take everything in and Thorin laughed. 

Before Bilbo could process what was happening he heard a creak and then a loud snap and suddenly he could feel himself falling. 

“ _ Thorin!” _ Bilbo cried. In an instant he was enveloped in darkness except for the dim light pouring in from above him. 

Thorin cursed loudly and his pale face appeared hovering over the new hole in the flooring. “A-Are you all right?” Thorin gasped shakily.

“I think I just messed up my ankle,” Bilbo groaned. “And I feel as if there’s a nest of spiders in the corner ready to come get me. Please, get me out of here,” Bilbo pleaded. 

“Hold on,” Thorin gasped. He situated himself and lowered his hand down into the hole. “Can you reach?” Thorin asked. Bilbo stretched as tall as he could, his fingertips barely touching Thorin’s. Thorin tried to lean further down and soon their hands were tightly clasped around each others. 

“Now what?” Bilbo asked. “If you try to pull me up like this you’re going to fall down here.” Thorin’s grasp loosened. “Thorin!” Bilbo cried as Thorin’s face disappeared for a moment. 

“Watch out,” Thorin called before his legs swung over the edge. 

“Thorin, no!” Bilbo gasped realizing what Thorin was about to do. Before Bilbo could protest anymore Thorin had already lowered himself into the crawlspace Bilbo had fallen into. “What on earth are you thinking?” Bilbo berated the other man. 

“I’m getting you out of here,” Thorin argued. 

“By getting us both stuck down here?” Bilbo hissed. “You’re completely stupid!” 

“Shut up,” Thorin snapped. “I’m going to give you a boost, which one is the ankle that is messed up?” Thorin asked. 

“My right one,” Bilbo answered diligently. 

“Okay, step up using your left foot,” Thorin instructed as he kneeled down, creating a platform, lacing his fingers together. “It’s going to hurt,” Thorin prepared him. “But it’ll get you out of here.” 

“You’re completely  _ fucking _ mad,” Bilbo growled through the pain as he hesitantly lifted his left foot and placed his hands on Thorin’s shoulders. 

“Ready?” Thorin asked.

“Please,” Bilbo breathed. 

“On the count of three, all right? One...two... _ three! _ ” Thorin hoisted Bilbo up. Bilbo cried out in pain as he scrambled to reach for the floor above him. He was able to catch his elbows on the creaky floorboards that had fallen through. 

“Oh, I need to work on my pull ups,” Bilbo hissed as he struggled to pull himself up. Even with Thorin boosting him from below it was difficult. Finally after what seemed like hours of struggling Bilbo was able to hook his knee over the edge and haul himself completely out of the hole. Bilbo laid on the dusty ground and frantically tried to catch his breath. 

He finally rolled to his side and pushed himself up. 

“Thorin!” Bilbo gasped. “How are you going to get out of here?” Bilbo asked. 

“Just…” Thorin surveyed the hole above him and Bilbo could almost see him calculating exactly how he was getting out. “Watch out.” 

Bilbo backed up and watched the hole nervously. Suddenly he saw Thorin’s fingers gripping desperately at the edge of the hole in the floor. With great effort Thorin pulled himself up getting one elbow up on the next level. Bilbo crawled forward hesitantly offering his hand in case Thorin needed it. Once Thorin had gotten both of his elbows up he slowly pulled himself up and out of the hole with a little help from Bilbo. He collapsed on the floor near Bilbo, panting heavily and trying to regain his breath. 

“Are you okay?” Bilbo gasped. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, we shouldn’t have come in here, this is all my fault,” Bilbo rambled breathlessly. Thorin wordlessly reached for Bilbo and his hand landed on Bilbo’s knee. 

“It’s fine,” Thorin breathed, still trying to catch his breath. “It’s fine, we’re fine,” Thorin repeated. 

“Come on, let’s get away from this hole in case more of it decides to break off,” Bilbo suggested.

“Good idea.” Thorin labored to get himself back onto his feet. Thorin helped Bilbo out of the mansion, slightly limping from his ankle injury. 

“Are you in much pain?” Thorin asked as he set Bilbo down on the dilapidated stone steps. 

“Just sore and a little terrified by what just happened.” Bilbo ran a hand through his curls. Thorin hummed in agreement as he made sure the padlock clicked behind them. Then Thorin helped Bilbo back up and got him over to the motorbike, helping him onto the bike and handing him a helmet. 

“I’ll get you home and make sure that ankle is all right.” Thorin promised, putting his own helmet on. 

“I’ll be fine,” Bilbo assured Thorin as he got on the bike. Bilbo’s hands went to Thorin’s waist as the motorbike roared to life once again. With the constant dull ache from his ankle, Bilbo enjoyed the trip back to town much less than he had the trip out. But overall, he was glad Thorin had invited him along for the day. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We finally get to Thorin and Bilbo's first date...first _social_ date, of course. Nothing romantic in the least. ;DD 
> 
> Sorry for the delay in chapters, I faced a little bit of a block when it came to later chapters (and other projects) and didn't want to proceed until I got past it. Hopefully I'll speed things up soon! 
> 
> As always you can find me at [ my tumblr](http://hobbitunderthemountain.tumblr.com) for any and all fic updates. 
> 
> Also thanks to my beta [Kate](http://anunexpectedjourney.tumblr.com) as always for her wonderful, helpful revisions to my work!


	4. Chapter 4

Luckily Bilbo’s ankle didn’t ail him for too long and he was back to full function in a few days. He had healed completely by the day that Thorin’s sister and nephews were due to arrive, which Bilbo had almost completely forgotten about. 

“My sister and her family are going to be here around 4:30 this afternoon,” Thorin informed him that morning. Bilbo must have looked startled because Thorin laughed. “I did tell you they were coming this weekend, didn’t I?” Thorin asked.

“Oh, yes, of course you did. I just forgot what day of the week it was and I wasn’t sure if you meant  _ this _ weekend. Well I suppose you did, I just...I forgot,” Bilbo admitted. 

“They’ll be here at about 4:30 this afternoon,” Thorin repeated. “We’re going to dinner in Dale and you are more than welcome to join us.” 

“I don’t...I don’t know if I should, should I?” Bilbo hesitated. “I don’t want to impose on a family dinner…” 

“Dís won’t let me leave you behind when you’re the one single handedly saving this place,” Thorin told him. “But if you’d rather not be bombarded by my bothersome sister and her sons I can make up any kind of excuse for you,” Thorin offered. 

“That’s sweet of you,” Bilbo teased. “But if she’s insistent, I’ll be more than happy to go. Perhaps you’ll let me run back to the bed and breakfast to change? I’m not quite...dressed to go to dinner.” 

“Why? You look fine,” Thorin shrugged. Bilbo rolled his eyes. “But I mean if you want to that’s fine. Not like I’m paying you,” Thorin teased him. “You can do whatever the hell you want.” 

“Whatever the hell I want?” Bilbo repeated with a laugh. 

“Well, obviously not  _ whatever _ the hell you want. I’d probably stop you if you were destroying property,” Thorin shrugged. The door opened and Dwalin stopped in the doorway. 

“If you two are done flirting with each other, I’d like to finish what we were doing before Dís gets here,” Dwalin reminded Thorin. Bilbo gave an embarrassed sigh as Thorin turned bright red. 

“Mind your damn business, I’ll be out in a minute,” Thorin snapped at his cousin. “Sorry,” Thorin apologized as Dwalin left, the door slamming behind him. Bilbo gave a shy smile and shook his head. 

“By any chance is Dwalin joining us for dinner?” Bilbo asked. 

“Unfortunately yes,” Thorin sighed. “He is our cousin after all. I have a feeling we’re never going to hear the end of it between him and my sister. Are you sure I don’t need to invent an excuse for you? You did go through quite an ordeal the other day at the Estate. You can still be  _ ‘recovering’ _ from that.”

“No thank you, I’d like to defend my honor instead of leaving you to fend them off for the both of us,” Bilbo assured Thorin. 

“Don’t say I didn’t offer you a way out of this,” Thorin warned. “I’m heading back out lest Dwalin comes back in here with new witty things to say to us.” 

“Good luck,” Bilbo wished him as he made for the door. “Hey, you have your radio on, don’t you?” Bilbo asked before Thorin was out the door. 

“Yes, why?” Thorin checked that the radio he had was still attached to his belt. 

“I’ll radio you when I’m heading over to the bed and breakfast,” Bilbo explained and Thorin nodded. 

“Just give me a call,” Thorin nodded before leaving the centre and letting the door slam shut behind him. 

The afternoon slowly dragged by and just before Bilbo was about to radio for Thorin to alert him he was leaving to change, a man walked into the centre. 

“Hello,” Bilbo called. “Anything I can help you with today?” He couldn’t quite put his finger on it but the man looked somewhat familiar and Bilbo wasn’t sure how or why. 

“Yeah, where’s Thorin?” the man asked. 

“I-I’m sure he’s out working on the boats or the property somewhere. I can call him if you’d like?” Bilbo offered wondering how this man knew Thorin. 

“Yes, please,” the man nodded. Bilbo picked up the radio sitting on the desk and pressed the talk button. 

“Hey, Thorin?” Bilbo spoke into the radio. They waited in silence for a little while. 

“Ready to head out?” Thorin’s staticy voice came over the radio. 

“Not quite yet but there’s someone here to see you,” Bilbo replied as he watched the man meander through the centre’s gift shop, looking thoughtfully at everything.

“Is my sister already here?” Thorin responded. 

“No, it’s a man. He’s asking for you,” Bilbo replied shortly as the man gave an amused look over his shoulder to Bilbo. When the man turned his gaze away again Bilbo scrutinized him. How did this man look familiar? 

“I’m heading in now,” Thorin replied. Bilbo busied himself to avoid talking to the stranger. Eventually, once the man was finished looking around, he approached the desk and Bilbo internally groaned. 

“So you must be the infamous Bilbo Baggins, hm?” the man asked. Bilbo furrowed his brows, wondering how the man knew his name and why he was suddenly considered ‘the infamous Bilbo Baggins.’ Before Bilbo could ask any questions, the door to the shop swung open and Thorin stood there in shock for a moment. 

“Frerin!?” Thorin cried in both excited surprise and irritation. “What on earth–did Dís–what are you doing here?”

“Hello, brother dearest,” Frerin greeted Thorin warmly. 

“Brother,” Bilbo sighed almost inaudibly.  _ That’s why the man seemed somewhat familiar. _ He had the same facial features as Thorin. Frerin ran over to Thorin and embraced him in what looked like a back breaking hug.  

“Frerin!” Thorin gasped again. 

“Dís told me her and Víli and the boys were coming up this weekend. Figured I’d make it a family reunion, especially if we’re celebrating you and Mister Baggins here!” Frerin declared. 

“Why didn’t you drive up here with them?” Thorin asked.

“Are you kidding? I didn’t want to sit in the back of Dís’ car for six hours with the boys.” Frerin wrinkled his nose. “Also, Dís doesn’t know I’m up here for the week either. So it’s a surprise for everyone!” Frerin exclaimed. “Except, of course, for Víli. I mean he kind of had to help me organize it.”  

Bilbo sat and watched the reunion in bewilderment.

“Bilbo, go ahead and go back to the bed and breakfast if you still want to go to dinner with us,” Thorin addressed him. 

“Of course I do,” Bilbo nodded. “I’ll be back in a half an hour or less, I promise. It was nice to...erm, meet you, Frerin,” Bilbo nodded to Thorin’s brother. As he began to make his way back to the bed and breakfast, Bilbo began to wonder if he should attend the dinner after all. 

As he let himself in, Bofur heard him and came to greet him. 

“You’re home a bit early, aren’t you?” Bofur frowned at him. 

“Thorin’s family is coming to town tonight and we’re going to dinner in Dale,” Bilbo explained. “I totally forgot and I’m not quite dressed to go to dinner in  _ Dale. _ I don’t even know if any of my nice clothes are clean since I didn’t have a chance to do laundry this week,” Bilbo sighed. Bofur smiled broadly at Bilbo. “What’s with that look?” Bilbo frowned. 

“I get it. You want to look nice to meet the family,” Bofur replied knowingly. 

“To meet my friend’s family who I wrote my thesis about,” Bilbo corrected and Bofur raised his eyebrows with a smug smile. “Stop that,” Bilbo snapped before heading upstairs to dig through his clothes. 

He was able to find something somewhat decent and ran a comb through his hair again. Anxiously pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, he sighed at his reflection in the mirror, mentally steeling himself for what could be a very stressful evening if Thorin’s reaction to his brother’s sudden appearance was anything to go by. But he certainly couldn’t let Thorin deal with his family on his own. Thorin needed an ally, Bilbo decided, and he was the perfect ally to mediate between the family members. 

Realizing it was nearly four-thirty Bilbo grabbed the key to his room and locked up behind him. A sudden thought occurred to him. He hoped that they wouldn’t be taking Thorin’s motorbike all the way to Dale. Bilbo wasn’t sure if he’d be able to stomach that. He hoped that between Frerin and Dís they had sensible cars that would hold all of them. 

“Good luck on your ‘meet the family’ date!” Bofur called as Bilbo snuck to the front door. Bilbo made a rude hand gesture in Bofur’s direction before closing the door behind him. The wind had picked up and it had quite the chill to it as Bilbo stuffed his hands into his pockets and hurried back to the centre. Another car had pulled up outside and Bilbo guessed that must have been Dís. Hesitantly he opened the door and was greeted with a cacophony of voices, all of which immediately came to a halt once Bilbo had entered. There were four new people in the visitors centre, along with Thorin, Frerin, and Dwalin. Bilbo hesitantly put on a modest smile. 

“This must be Bilbo!” the woman in the group declared. 

“Bilbo, this is Dís, my sister,” Thorin quickly interjected. 

“Oh, it is a pleasure to meet you at last.” Dís quickly came forward and shook Bilbo’s hand. “You are amazing, you are.” Bilbo blushed under the praise. “This is my husband Víli,” Dís introduced him to the other man in the room. He was tall and had a beard like Thorin and Frerin except he was blond. “And then my boys, Fíli and Kíli.” 

Bilbo smiled at the two teenagers. The eldest one had blonde scraggly hair like his father that was so long it had been pulled into a messy braid. The younger one had Dís and Thorin’s dark hair; it was also quite long but not long enough to braid like his brother’s. 

“Hello, Mister Boggins,” Kíli greeted with a smile. 

“Baggins, Kíli,” Thorin hissed. 

“Mister Baggins!” Kíli quickly corrected himself. “When are we going to get food, I’m starving.” Kíli looked back at his mother.

“We’re going soon,” Dís sighed. “We just stopped and got snacks an hour ago so you’d be fine until dinner,” Dís groaned. 

Before they could decide to depart they had to discuss who would ride with who. As they began to discuss splitting the party between Frerin and Dís’ car, Bilbo could sense Thorin getting panicky. His face blanched as if his worst nightmare had been realized when Frerin suggested taking Thorin and Dwalin and letting Bilbo ride with his sister and her family.

“I’m not being split from Bilbo,” Thorin quickly snapped. 

“Oh,” Frerin gave a dramatic eyeroll. “Right, of course.” 

“Come on, Frerin. You know that’s not right,” Dís tutted. 

Eventually Dwalin agreed to ride with Frerin into Dale if Thorin wanted to ride with Dís’ family in their larger SUV. 

“That’s agreeable,” Bilbo nodded before Thorin could answer.

“Absolutely not!” Thorin declared. 

“Why ever not?” Bilbo huffed. He was beginning to feel hungry and all this standing around arguing was not putting him in a very social mood. “We’re together, isn’t that what you wanted?” Bilbo asked. 

“They’re going to gossip like teenage girls about us the whole drive down there,” Thorin muttered, trying to avoid letting the others overhear them but failing miserably. 

“We won’t gossip,” Dwalin promised as he shook his head disbelievingly at his cousin. 

“We can just go with them if you’re that worried,” Bilbo offered. 

“There’s more room in Dís and Víli’s car,” Thorin explained. 

“Very well, we’re riding with them and let Dwalin and Frerin gossip all they want on the way into Dale, I don’t care. I’d just like to get on the road sometime this year,” Bilbo folded his arms.

“I agree, Mister Baggins,” Kíli nodded whole-heartedly and Bilbo gave the boy a small smile.

“Fine,” Thorin agreed before giving one last glare to his cousin and brother. 

Soon they were all situated in their respective rides with Bilbo and Thorin crowded into the back of Dís and Víli’s car. It was about a forty minute drive into Dale but it was the closest large city with a decent selection of restaurants. Bilbo anxiously fiddled with the sleeves of his cardigan as they drove away from Erebor. Dís and Víli talked in the front and Fíli and Kíli were mostly silent, listening to music on their phone or just enjoying the view out the window as the sun set. Bilbo and Thorin were sitting too far back to join in any conversation happening up front, so they also both sat in silence. 

They reached the restaurant Dís had made reservations at and Bilbo nervously followed close behind Thorin as they entered. Soon they were led to their table by one of the hostesses and handed menus. 

Bilbo’s mind was buzzing and he was beginning to feel a little overwhelmed and terrified he would disappoint Thorin’s family. He was trying to tell himself that he was being completely ridiculous, but despite all the teasing from Bofur it did feel like it was a ‘meet the family’ dinner. Frerin’s words about about ‘celebrating he and Thorin’ echoed in his mind. The sudden thought occurred to him that maybe Thorin’s family thought they  _ were _ dating. 

“Bilbo, are you okay?” Dís asked, looking up from her menu. “You don’t look so great.”

“What?” Bilbo blinked, glancing over the table and realizing he was the only one not looking over the menu and instead staring off into space. “Sorry,” Bilbo quickly opened his menu up and stared blankly at the words printed on the menu. 

“Are you feeling all right?” Thorin asked gently placing a hand on Bilbo’s shoulder. “You do look pale.”

“I’m fine, thank you,” Bilbo muttered. “Just...distracted, sorry.” 

“I’m sorry, I know it’s overwhelming. I can still get you out of this if you wish,” Thorin offered softly. 

“No, what are you going to do? We’re already here and neither of us drove,” Bilbo muttered back.

“I can call us a taxi,” Thorin offered. 

“Thorin, stop,” Bilbo smiled. “This is your family dinner. No, I don’t need you to get me out of this, I told you, I’m fine.” He blushed when he realized they were having their hushed conversation while Thorin’s family looked on. Bilbo caught Dwalin’s over-exaggerated eyeroll. 

Before any of them could say anything, the waiter interrupted and took their orders. However, as soon as he disappeared, the family’s attention now turned back to Thorin and Bilbo. 

“How’s preparation going for peak season?” Dís broached the topic innocently enough. 

“Going well,” Thorin answered brusquely. 

“Well, it’s going much easier now with Bilbo’s donation,” Dwalin clarified. 

“Loan. I’m going to pay him back,” Thorin corrected.

“Yes, I can’t believe a wealthy bachelor fell into your life, Thorin. How did you manage that?” Frerin grinned at his brother. Thorin blushed and looked like he was going to argue but Frerin continued, looking back to Bilbo. “I mean you’re already volunteering your time, aren’t you?”

“W-Well yes,” Bilbo nodded. He wasn’t exactly sure how Frerin knew he was a bachelor. Exactly how much had Thorin told his family? “It’s been a good distraction. I just recently lost my mother,” Bilbo explained stiffly. 

“Oh, yes. Thorin’s told me,” Dís gave him a sympathetic look. “I’m so sorry for your loss. We really do appreciate what you’ve done for us though. I know Thorin’s the most grateful of us all, even if he may never show it.”

“I make sure Bilbo knows he’s appreciated,” Thorin argued.

“He let’s me know how much he appreciates it,” Bilbo interjected at the same time. Frerin grinned broadly, exchanging a look with Dwalin who raised his eyebrows in an ‘I-told-you-so’ fashion accompanied by another eyeroll.

Frerin only hummed in amusement. Quickly turning the conversation, Thorin was able to deflect further questions.

“How are you boys doing in school this year?” Thorin asked he nephews. 

“Fine, I suppose,” Fíli shrugged.

“Oh, tell Uncle Thorin about your last rugby game,” Dís prompted. “That was a good match.” 

Luckily the exciting retelling of Fíli’s last rugby match took up a majority of their time until their meals were brought out and Bilbo was grateful the subject didn’t linger on he or Thorin any longer than it had to.

Bilbo was used to being around rambunctious relatives, but being thrust into Thorin’s family like this was different. It was bizarre hearing tales of people he didn’t know or events he had not attended and it made him feel a bit out of place. 

Thorin was a little quiet too, at least compared to his boisterous siblings. Eventually Víli noticed and began to steer the conversation back to Erebor.

“So we’re going to be here for at least a week...Is there anything we can do to help while we’re here?” Víli asked. 

“Bilbo does have a project for the boys,” Thorin let them know. “Perhaps we could use your artistic take on it, Víli,” Thorin chuckled. 

“What kind of project are we talking?” Kíli asked as if he were trying to determine if it was something he wanted to do or not. “Is it like a school project? ‘Cause I don’t want to have another school project to do over break.” 

“Oh, no, it’s...it’s silly,” Bilbo avoided bringing up his half-intoxicated plan to fake a sighting. 

“It’s not silly...well, it is,” Thorin admitted. “But it’s fun. Bilbo wants to fake another sighting.”

“Ooh!” Dís perked up. “That sounds like fun. You guys would like that, hm?” Dís asked her sons. 

“Before we do that, though, I’m wondering if any of you know how to update the website?” Bilbo asked. “I-I mean I want to do the sighting so we drive more traffic to the website, but I don’t want to do that until I know how to update it. I’m not quite sure how that all works. I’ve set up some social media pages but I haven’t figured out how to actually manage the website and I think that’ll be most helpful to business,” Bilbo explained. 

“Oh, I can help with that,” Frerin volunteered. “I’ve built a website for mine and Víli’s business, and I think I remember a little bit about how to update the Erebor website.” 

“Terrific,” Bilbo beamed. “That would be most helpful.”

“Course,” Frerin nodded. 

“So you said you and Víli had a business?” Bilbo prompted. Frerin began to tell Bilbo about the small shop they had set up in Ered Luin where they made and sold intricate ironwrought sculptures. Víli interrupted and explained that he was more of the artist and Frerin did their marketing and focused on the more administrative side of things. That excited Bilbo, hoping that Frerin could help out at the centre with his skills and knowledge. 

“I help out in the workshop too, stop stealing the ‘oh I’m the artistic mastermind behind the place!’ spotlight,” Frerin teased his brother-in-law. 

“All right, I suppose you do help out quite a bit,” Víli sighed dramatically before pulling out his phone and pulling up some photos of their recent work to show Bilbo. The sculptures were beautiful and Bilbo was amazed that the two men were able to create sculptures such as these. 

“So Mister Baggins, you said you set up social media pages? Do you have a Facebook page for Erebor?” Kíli asked excitedly as Bilbo handed the phone back to Víli. 

“Yes, I suppose I should have you and your Uncle Frerin help me. It took me a couple days to figure out exactly what I was doing,” Bilbo chuckled. “Perhaps you can help me set up new pages on other social media sites.” 

“Can I see the Facebook page you set up?” Kíli asked excitedly as he pulled out his phone.

“Yes, if you search for Erebor Visitor Centre, you should find it,” Bilbo told the boy and Kíli began to type on his phone. 

“Do we have to do this at the dinner table?” Dís muttered, looking disapprovingly at Kíli. “Everyone put your phones away.”

“Sorry,” Bilbo quickly apologized. 

“It’s all right, it’s just we’ll have all week to work on this, hm?” Dís looked between her son and Bilbo as well as giving her husband a disapproving look. Bilbo blushed, almost feeling as if he was a small child being chastised by his mother. 

“Dís,” Thorin muttered. 

“Oh, sorry, am I embarrassing you?” Dís asked with a smile. 

“How do you live with her?” Thorin turned towards his nephews. “And to deal with this at school too?”

“I’m not that bad,” Dís rolled her eyes. Bilbo quickly learned that Dís was the principal at their secondary school.  “At least I’m principal and not one of your teachers. Then there’d really be no escape.” 

“I suppose that gives ‘being sent to the principal’s office’ a little different meaning,” Bilbo commented. 

“Oh, that just means they’re really in trouble,” Dís laughed.  

The rest of the night passed without too many more embarrassing topics being brought up. Thorin’s family seemed to really enjoy Bilbo’s company and between them all, they must have thanked Bilbo a few hundred times. 

Once the meal had finished up and the check had been paid, they piled back into the cars they had arrived in. The ride was mostly silent and dark and Bilbo felt as if he were going to be lulled to sleep in the back of the car. Next thing he knew Thorin was gently touching his shoulder, waking him up. 

He clumsily crawled out of the car and said goodnight to everyone. 

Dwalin bid them goodbye while Frerin, Fíli, and Kíli went with Thorin up to his apartment. It had been decided that Frerin was going to sleep on Thorin’s couch and the boys would roll out sleeping bags on the living room floor once the small coffee table was pushed out of the way. Dís and Víli escorted a sleepy, content Bilbo back to the bed and breakfast where they had reserved a room for the week. 

“I’m glad you’re here in Erebor, Bilbo,” Dís quietly told him as they walked down the road. “You’re good for Thorin, at least.” Bilbo chuckled, remembering that was almost exactly what Thorin had predicted Dís would say. 

“He did seem more relaxed than usual,” Víli commented and Bilbo almost audibly laughed. 

“You think so?” Bilbo raised his eyebrows and shoved his hands in his pockets. Personally, tonight Thorin seemed more tightly wound than usual and that was saying something when they’d both been so stressed about their financial situation. 

“Oh, absolutely,” Dís agreed wholeheartedly. “He smiled...how many times? I think we counted at least ten times.” 

Bilbo did audibly laugh at that. Thorin rarely did smile. That night he had caught Thorin smiling more often than he had for a while . 

“We were going to make a drinking game out of it,” Víli snickered. 

“Of course we couldn’t,” Dís remarked. “You still had to drive home. You’d be completely drunk if we had ordered drinks to play.” 

They entered the bed and breakfast and Bilbo wondered if Bofur and his family would already be asleep, but they found the three relatives in the kitchen playing a card game. 

“We’re back,” Bilbo called. The family all greeted Dís and Víli warmly as if they were their own family. Bofur asked about the dinner and Dís gave them an excited response. After a few more moments of conversation, Bofur gave the couple the key to their room and bid them goodnight. Bilbo quietly led the couple upstairs and they murmured goodnights before disappearing into their rooms for the night. 

Bilbo’s phone quietly buzzed on his night table as he was getting ready for bed and he frowned as he finished brushing his teeth. Leaving the bathroom, Bilbo went to his charging phone and looked down at the screen,which alerted him to one new text message. 

**Thorin** **  
** _ I hope you were ok with tonight _

Bilbo bit his lip with another frown and typed out a response. 

**Bilbo** **  
** _ How many times do I have to tell you?? It was fun….It was nice going out with your family.  _

He set the phone down and finished getting ready for bed. As he got under the covers the phone vibrated again on his bedside table. Bilbo reached for it and squinted at the bright screen in the dark room.

**Thorin** **  
** _ Talk to your family yet? Tell them you’re staying for the summer? If you still want to that is.  _

Bilbo typed back a response. 

**Bilbo** **  
** _ Not yet. I expected one of them to call me sometime this week to be honest. I’ll call tomorrow morning. Remind me.  _

He set down the phone down on his chest and waited for Thorin’s response as he tried to think which one of his gossiping cousins he should call in the morning. The phone vibrated again. 

**Thorin** **  
** _ Will do. See you tomorrow. _

**Bilbo** **  
** _ Goodnight, Thorin.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short lil chapter but we're moving right along! I was excited to finally get to Dís and Frerin and the whole family in this chapter. (Ah, it feels good to write something where [mostly] everyone is alive!)   
> As always you can find me on tumblr at [hobbitunderthemountain](http://hobbitunderthemountain.tumblr.com) and thank you so much to my magnificent beta [Kate!](http://anunexpectedjourney.tumblr.com)


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning Bilbo walked over to the center with Dís and Víli before the place was open and let them inside. Thorin heard them and came downstairs to greet them.

“Frerin and the boys still sleeping?” Dís asked.

“Frerin’s up, the boys are still sleeping,” Thorin replied to his sister and then turned to Bilbo. “Did you call one of your cousins already this morning?” Thorin asked as Bilbo sat behind the front desk.

“Oh, no,” Bilbo sighed. “I wanted to wait till it was a little later in the day anyway. The time difference, y’know.”

“Oh, right. I always forget we’re several hours ahead not behind. Anyway, don’t forget,” Thorin warned him.

“I’ll call around lunch, all right? Keep me accountable,” Bilbo chuckled.

“What’s this?” Dís asked.

“Erm, I haven’t really told my family how long I intend to stay,” Bilbo told Dís sheepishly. “In fact, when I left I didn’t really tell anyone, save for my neighbor. I only called him after I’d arrived in Dale.”

“And how long _do_ you intend to stay?” Dís questioned.

“I told Thorin I’d stay through the summer,” Bilbo explained. “Finish up the books, help out with the—well, hopefully with the rush we’ll have. Then we’ll see.”

“Oh, excellent! I look forward to it,” Dís exclaimed. “We’ll be up here all summer too. We usually come up for at least one month out of the summer to help. What do you think, Thorin? Still need our help even though you’ll have Bilbo?”

“Of course I’ll still need your help,” Thorin shrugged. “Bilbo’s going to bring all these people up here using social media, right? We’ll need all the help we can get.”

“ _Hopefully,_ ” Bilbo nodded. “Anyway, it’ll be fun to have everyone up here again.” Bilbo smiled.

“Mind if I go up and wake the boys?” Víli asked Thorin, gesturing up the stairs to Thorin’s apartment.

“By all means, be my guest,” Thorin smiled. As Víli ascended the stairs, Dís began to ask about what repairs had been made with Bilbo’s money and what still needed to be done.

Thorin took his sister through the primary and secondary lists of things that needed repairs and told her what had been done. Most of the things on the primary list were taken care of or at least mostly taken care of and they could start to focus on the free or inexpensive things on the secondary list that they could fix.

As Bilbo listened to them talk, he booted up the computer at the front desk and checked up on the pages he’d made on social media. He was excited to see they had another like on his Facebook page but then realized that it had only been Kíli, leaving him a little disappointed.

Soon, Dwalin appeared and let himself into the centre, bidding good morning to Bilbo, Thorin, and Dís.

“Where are the others?” Dwalin asked. “I was afraid I was missing the party.”

“No parties this early in the morning. Víli went upstairs to wake the boys,” Dís explained.

“Frerin’s still up there making them breakfast or something,” Thorin shrugged. Dís began to ask after Dwalin’s older brother who also apparently owned—or co-owned—another shop in town. Bilbo couldn’t believe how intertwined the entire community was. He wondered if it had always been like this or not. When he was here almost twenty years ago, he hadn’t fully explored the community. His only focus was on the centre. Bilbo was glad he was starting to learn more about the town and the families that lived here. It was beginning to make him feel as if perhaps he belonged here too.

He knew it was ridiculous to consider it, but just to humor himself he began to think about moving to Erebor permanently. He would have to find a place; he knew couldn’t stay at the bed and breakfast forever. If he sold his home in Hobbiton he’d have enough money to move up here and live and hopefully his plan to drive more traffic to the center would generate enough revenue that Thorin could start to pay him. However, he wasn’t exactly sure if Thorin would still want him around if he stopped working for free.

Bilbo was pulled from his thoughts as the rest of Thorin’s family came down from his apartment.

“What’s on the schedule for today?” Frerin asked.

“Can we go on the boats?” Fíli asked.

“Yeah, let’s go for a ride!” Kíli begged.

“All right, but you have to come help us finish up some repairs first,” Thorin decided.

“Are the boats all right to be taken out?” Dís asked.

“I told you all the primary concerns have been fixed,” Thorin shrugged. “...And I’ll make sure the boys wear their life vests.”

“That’s reassuring.” Dís rolled her eyes.

“The boats are fine,” Dwalin assured her. “We’ve been working on them non-stop since Bilbo gave us that money.”

“All right,” Dís sighed. “Go have fun. But listen to everything Uncle Thorin and Uncle Dwalin tell you, okay?”

“Yeah, we know,” Kíli nodded enthusiastically.

“I’m serious.” Dís raised her eyebrows.

“We got it,” Fíli nodded. “Can we go now?” Fíli turned to Thorin.

“All right,” Thorin nodded and the majority of the group moved outside. Dís, however, remained in the centre.

“So you’ve really just been sitting in here while Thorin and Dwalin run about outside?” Dís asked.

“Mm, yes,” Bilbo nodded as he looked over his things on the desk. “Working on the books afterall. Did you know how much Thorin has neglected them?”

“Unfortunately,” Dís sighed. “I used to try to help him try to get everything back into order over the summers but I’d never get through it all and Thorin never tried to keep up with it. To be honest with you, I don’t know how things are going to fare once you leave. I’m hoping you give him enough of a reason to keep going with this if we get a new surge of visitors. I don’t know.”

Bilbo looked down, absently shifting things on the desk. His thoughts turned back towards the idea of moving to Erebor once the summer was over. If Thorin really couldn’t keep the books up he would _need_ Bilbo there. He supposed it was all really dependent on if he would be able to bring enough visitors up to the lake over the summer.

“I don’t mean to guilt you, God, that was a dumb thing to say,” Dís quickly shook her head as she took note of Bilbo’s thoughtful expression.  

“No, no. It wasn’t,” Bilbo assured her. “Any particular reason why you think Thorin hasn’t kept things up the way he should have? I mean I’m not blaming Thorin for the way things are, but…” Bilbo trailed off.

“No, go ahead and blame him. His mind just doesn’t work that way. You could probably blame the rest of us too for not helping out as much as we should. We’re to blame for abandoning the place like we did...abandoned Thorin.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Bilbo sighed. “I’m sure you did what was best for you. No one can blame you for that.”

Dís gave Bilbo a soft smile.

“Perhaps,” Dís shrugged. “Anyway, I was hoping we could go through the center and collaborate on updating some of the signage? It’s been a project I’ve been wanting to get around to for a couple years and...if we’ll be getting more visitors due to your little scheme, perhaps now is the perfect time.”

“I hope this works, otherwise I’m going to disappoint everyone at this point,” Bilbo admitted anxiously.

“At least you’re giving it a shot. Giving Thorin some hope, I suppose,” Dís shrugged. Bilbo gave Dís a small sheepish smile. “Wanna help me brainstorm some ideas for refreshing these exhibits?”

“I’d love that,” Bilbo agreed.

**x**

After spending the morning with Dís walking through the centre and deciding which signage to update, they began to create some concepts.

Bilbo mentioned trying to do a section of the exhibit dedicated to their family’s history in mining in the region and Dís looked thoughtful.

“I only mean…well, the other day Thorin took me up to see your family’s old estate,” Bilbo started. Dís gave Bilbo an odd look but he continued nonetheless. “He refreshed me a bit on your family’s history and while he was explaining things to me, it made me realize we don’t have much dedicated to that here in the centre. We have a snippet here and there, but mostly everything here is devoted to Smaug. Which isn’t a bad thing, but I think we can attract more people up here if we advertise it as a historical museum as well,” Bilbo explained.

“I’ll have to pull up some research,” Dís muttered as she made a mental note. “It’s been a while since I brushed up on the region’s history. Isn’t that terrible when it’s my own family?” Dís chuckled.

“Not at all.” Bilbo gave her a small shrug. “I’m fairly sure people don’t quiz you in your daily life about everything your great-great-great-great grandfather accomplished.” Dís laughed and Bilbo felt accomplished and chuckled alongside her.

Soon, they returned to the front desk and Dís promised she’d talk to Frerin about getting new signage printed for the summer season.

“Let me get your email,” Dís grabbed one of the old brochures off the desk and flipped it to the empty spot on the back and handed Bilbo a pen. “I can email you some of the ideas we come up with after we leave. We’ll try to get up here as soon as possible this summer so we can help replace everything before the big rush starts.”

Bilbo enthusiastically wrote down his email address on the brochure as legibly as possible. Dís smiled broadly and took the brochure to put away somewhere safe.

“While I’m thinking about it, we could update the brochures,” Dís commented as she tucked it away. Finally she decided to go out to see if Thorin and the others were back yet.

Bilbo was glad to have a moment’s break and turned towards the backroom to pull out his phone and think over who he should call to explain that he was going to be in Erebor through the summer. His mind began to run through the list of his cousins and their families. Bilbo decided he should call one of his cousins who was bound to gossip with the rest of the family. It would save him some time from calling _everyone._ Even then, he knew he would have relatives who would be upset with him if he didn’t call them personally.  

Just as he was mulling over his choices and scrolling through his contact list, his phone alerted him to an incoming call. Bilbo sighed and answered the phone call.

“Good timing, Lobelia,” Bilbo answered his phone. “I was just thinking of giving you a call.”

“Oh, I'm sure you were,” Lobelia retorted. Bilbo rolled his eyes. “When are you planning on coming home? I thought you said you were only going to be gone for a week. I’ve been calling the house and no one’s there, I thought something might have happened.”

“Sorry, I really was meaning to call. I’m still up in Erebor,” Bilbo told her, flinching away from the phone a little waiting for Lobelia's reaction.

“Well, when are you planning on coming home then?” Lobelia asked. “Surely sometime soon? Heavens, Bilbo, it’s been nearly a month and a half! Don’t you miss home?”

“I suppose,” Bilbo sighed. “I don’t know how long I’ll be up here to be honest with you. But I think I’m probably staying through the summer,” Bilbo explained.

“Through the summer? Are you _moving_ up there?” Lobelia asked in surprise.

“No!” Bilbo squeezed his eyes shut in exasperation. “No, not quite. No, I’m not moving up here. Well, I mean, like I said, I’ll be here through the summer, but I’ll probably want to stay a little after that to...oversee the aftermath of the summer business…” Bilbo prattled off. He soon realized he was making excuses for him to stay in Erebor. Once again, the thought of leaving upset Bilbo even though he had now postponed his departure for much longer than he'd intended. “Actually, erm, just...so I know, were you and Otho still interested in the house?” Bilbo asked.

“Well, sure, of course we are. But you just said you weren’t moving,” Lobelia asked. “Why are you asking me if we’re interested in the house?”

“I don’t know,” Bilbo sighed. “I mean it really is ridiculous for me to live in a place that large and you’ve got a family and could use the space. I’m only devastated when I’m there after Mum...”

“ _That’s_ a lot to consider, I think,” Lobelia told him sensibly. “It’s only been two months since she died. Don’t go selling everything off just yet.”

“Yes, you’re right,” Bilbo agreed.

“Don’t make a decision until you’re absolutely sure,” Lobelia continued.

“I know, I won’t,” Bilbo agreed.

“Well, I’m glad to hear you’re keeping busy,” Lobelia commented. Bilbo heard the door open to the centre again and the family’s voices as they discussed lunch.

“How’s everyone doing at home?” Bilbo asked.

“Oh, good. Aside from everyone asking how you’ve been doing,” Lobelia informed him. “I went out to lunch with Prim yesterday and she was so worried about you, so I promised I would call you today. I think her maternal instincts are kicking in early.”

“I’m not sure what you mean,” Bilbo frowned.

“Oh, did you not know?” Lobelia asked.

“Know what?” Bilbo questioned.

“That Primula is pregnant, of course!” Lobelia exclaimed excitedly.

“What? No!” Bilbo beamed. Thorin poked his head in the back room before realizing Bilbo was on his call to his cousin and quickly nodded and disappeared again.

“Yes! She was just beginning to show when we went to our lunch date yesterday,” Lobelia explained. “After lunch I went with her to start shopping for the nursery and pick out colors. I think we picked a nice neutral light green but I’ll have to see what she and Drogo decided on.”

“When did she announce this?” Bilbo frowned.

“It was maybe a week or two after your mother’s funeral. I told her she should give you a call and give you the good news. I thought you could use it...she must have forgotten,” Lobelia explained. “Anyway, she put something up on Facebook a couple weeks ago too. You really should get a Facebook, Bilbo, especially if you’re going to be so far away from home for so long. You can keep us all updated on how things are going up there. I’m always seeing updates from some of the relatives that live further away. I’m even Facebook friends with your Aunt Mira, but all she really does is play games. Every once in awhile she’ll comment on family photos, though.”

“All right, all right, Lobelia. I’ll...work on setting one up. I actually just set up a page for the visitor’s centre here so technically I have one, I just haven’t done anything with a personal one yet.”

“Let me know when you do and I’ll add you. I can tell the others too,” Lobelia offered.

“All right, I better get going, I think they’re all waiting on me,” Bilbo said, trying to bring their conversation to a close.

“Who is ‘they’? I thought you only worked with one other person, if I remember correctly. The fellow whose family owns the place?” Lobelia asked.

“Yes, that’s right. He’s just got his other family members here for the week. His sister and her family and his brother. The kids had Easter break and they wanted to come up here for a little visit,” Bilbo explained.

“That sounds nice,” Lobelia commented. “Well, I’ll let everyone know you’re still up there and that you’re planning on staying through the summer. Who knows, maybe I’ll convince Otho and we’ll come visit you. Maybe we can convince some other relatives to come up too and have a proper family weekend.”

“That would be fantastic,” Bilbo smiled. He wasn’t sure if he wanted his nosy relatives up there or not but he supposed it might be nice to have family come up and visit.

“All right, I’ll let you go. Keep me updated, Bilbo,” Lobelia reminded him.

“I’ll try,” Bilbo promised.

“Take care of yourself,” Lobelia added.

“I will, thank you,” Bilbo nodded. “Say hi to everyone for me. Talk to you later.”

After hanging up, Bilbo left the back room and Thorin immediately spotted him.

“On the phone with one of your cousins?” Thorin asked and Bilbo nodded.

“Soon my whole family will know I’m staying here for the summer,” Bilbo informed them.

“It’s official!” Dís exclaimed in celebration and Bilbo smiled with a faint blush.

They decided to pick up lunch from Bombur’s cafe since Thorin’s fridge was fairly sparse and the fridge in the back room was just as empty. Frerin volunteered to go pick up the food before taking down everyone’s order.

“Bilbo, what do you want?” Frerin asked.

“Whatever Thorin’s eating is fine. What are you getting, Thorin? The fish and chips?” Bilbo asked and Thorin nodded.

“Okay, two of those,” Frerin marked down. “Okay, who’s coming with me? Fíli? Kíli?”

“I’ll go!” Kíli eagerly volunteered to go on the lunch errand with his uncle. Fíli elected to stay behind and soon Kili and Frerin left the center for the cafe.

When they came back, they all crowded around the small coffee table in the back and ate their lunches. Bilbo was pressed between the arm of the couch and Thorin’s side with his lunch in his lap. Frerin, Fíli and Kíli all sat on the ground around the coffee table and none of them looked too bothered by the uncomfortable spots.

After they all finished their food, Dís went out with her family and Frerin stayed in with Bilbo to help Bilbo figure out the situation with the website.

“Let’s see if I still remember how to do this,” Frerin muttered as he logged onto the computer and Bilbo hovered over his shoulder. It took a little while before Frerin finally remembered how the centre’s website was accessed.

“It was built on a different platform than the one I use for our shop,” Frerin explained. “But I used to mess around on the website when we first got it just after the rush we had in ‘93.”

“Please don’t tell me this website hasn’t been updated since ‘93.” Bilbo groaned.

“No, no, I’ve updated it since then but...God, it’s really been ages. I think the last time I looked at it was just after our dad died,” Frerin explained as he navigated through the pages. “That had to be nearly twelve years ago now.”

Bilbo sat and watched as Frerin walked him through the website and how to change certain things and add pages. It seemed fairly straightforward after understanding how it worked. Frerin started to make a few visual changes and began to update some of the information on the site for Bilbo. He talked aloud as he worked, suggesting ideas for the future.

“We’ll have to see how this summer goes. Perhaps we can create a page where people can make reservations for tours or purchase tickets to the exhibit online. I’ll go ahead and set up a calendar page and it’s pretty easy to input events if you ever want to start planning special events here. For now you can put things like ‘ _Summer Boat Tours Start’_ here on May first, at least. I think that’s when we start those up. I should ask Thorin just in case he doesn’t think you’ll be ready for May.”

“Wow, it’s already looking so much nicer,” Bilbo remarked as Frerin clicked through the pages to show what he’d added.

“If you have any questions after this you can give me a call,” Frerin told him as they finished up. “I probably won’t be up here much during the summer like my sister and her family ‘cause someone’s gotta hold down the fort at home while Víli’s here enjoying his summer with the family.”

“That’s too bad. I mean, whatever the case, it’ll be nice to have my own I.T. person on call, thank you,” Bilbo smiled gratefully.

“Thank you,” Frerin placed his hand on Bilbo’s shoulder. “For reviving this place. For making Thorin happy to do this job again. He’s always been such a sourpuss about this place since he inherited it after Dad died.” Bilbo frowned, feeling as if Frerin’s remarks echoed some of Dís’ comments about Thorin and his relation to the tourist centre.

“Why didn’t he just leave like the rest of you if he wasn’t happy here?” Bilbo questioned.

“I don’t know. We all knew it was going downhill after Dad died. I mean even before that, we knew the place wouldn’t be around long, which is why Dís and I moved out. Well, Dís because she went to university out there in Ered Luin, met Víli, got married, got a job. After our mother died, I was beginning to feel restless here too and that was about the time Víli wanted to set up a workshop and wanted to partner with me. I told Thorin he should sell the place and move with us but he didn’t want to even though I knew he wasn’t completely happy here either. I think Thorin’s always felt some sense of duty to stay. Our family has lived here for generations and I don’t think Thorin wants to give up on that.”

Bilbo’s stomach twisted as he felt a bubble of emotion rise in his throat. Hearing how determined Thorin was to keep the place made him more motivated than ever to get this place back to its former glory. Bilbo nodded solemnly before giving Frerin another grateful smile.

“Now how about this ‘fake a sighting’ project you were thinking of? It was your idea, Thorin said, right?”

“Yes, it was kind of just a...it popped into my head as we were discussing ideas on how to drive traffic up here,” Bilbo shrugged.

“So instead of taking out a few more ads online or focusing on marketing you went to ‘fake a sighting’?” Frerin chuckled and Bilbo blushed with a nod. “Oh, my God. I mean, I can only imagine Thorin really loves the idea.”

“He seemed pretty enthused about it,” Bilbo admitted. “Why would you say that?”

“Oh, Thorin was about eight, I was about six but I still remember pretty well. In fact it’s one of my most vivid memories,” Frerin reminisced. “Dad set up the fake sighting, the photograph? That was right near the beginning of all of this. We had so much fun setting it all up.”

“Didn’t that take the magic out of it for you two, being that young?” Bilbo asked. “Isn’t this kind of like Father Christmas and telling kids he’s not real?”

“Are you telling me Santa Claus isn’t real?” Frerin looked genuinely upset.

“Oh, stop it,” Bilbo laughed.

“No, we knew the monster wasn’t real,” Frerin shrugged. “It was just fun to imagine.”

“Well, it was the only thing I could think of to get this place talked about again. I mean updating the website and creating a Facebook page is one thing but it’s not going to help us if everyone still forgets we’re up here,” Bilbo explained.

“You don’t have to convince me. I’m definitely on board,” Frerin told Bilbo excitedly.

They talked through some logistics of how they could make a video that showed something that could possibly be Smaug. Along with his tech experience with the website, Frerin had a little experience with editing videos and had some software on his computer he could use. He began looking up some online tutorials to see how easy it would be.

“I think Fíli knows how to do some of this stuff, I’ll have to ask him,” Frerin decided. But I think we'll have to create something physical to represent Smaug so it doesn't look _so_ much like it's all been digitally created. There's a lot more skeptics out there than there were when we first did this.”

“Honestly I'm not really trying to fool everyone. I just want to get people talking.”

“If it's too bad the only thing you're going to get is someone laughing about how dumb the place is and move on. Nothing news breaking about a bad edit job. I'll see what Víli has to say. He might have some idea how we can create something more physical to represent our beast.”

“Ah, that’d be fantastic,” Bilbo commented excitedly. “If nothing else, it’s going to be kind of fun.”

**x**

Bilbo enjoyed spending time with Thorin’s family. Once he'd gotten to know them, his anxieties began to disappear. He really got along with Dís, and Frerin was quite the jokester. The boys were polite and full of energy and Bilbo had already had several lengthy conversations with Víli who seemed to have interesting insights on nearly every topic imaginable.  

That evening they all had dinner at the bed and breakfast as they planned the logistics of how to set up the false sighting. Víli had pulled out his sketchbook to begin listing what they could use to build something that could realistically represent the monster and where the camera should be positioned. Thorin and Dwalin discussed where it should be filmed, and Fíli and Frerin continued to research tutorials on the basic editing software Frerin had.

Bilbo couldn’t help but smile at how involved Thorin’s family had become and Thorin caught his gaze from across the table. His smile broadened as Thorin gave him a small smile and quickly averted his gaze, feeling his face grow warm with a blush.

“What do you think, should we start working on this tomorrow?” Víli asked as he began to get a good grasp on how he’d construct his unconventional sculpture.

They all agreed enthusiastically as they began to wrap up for the night.

“Told you my family would be enthusiastic about the sighting,” Thorin murmured as he came up beside Bilbo. Bilbo directed his attention to Thorin and smiled warmly as he felt Thorin's hand gently land between his shoulders.

“O-Oh, I’m so glad,” Bilbo jumped a little at the sudden close proximity. “I really thought it was going to be a bit silly.”

“Well, it seems as if they’re all on board,” Thorin shrugged. “I’m glad you thought of this.”

“Don’t thank me until it actually works, okay?” Bilbo smiled softly. Bilbo brought his own hand up and placed it on the small of Thorin’s back. “Looks like Frerin and the boys are ready to go,” Bilbo observed.

“Right,” Thorin sighed, his hand sliding away from Bilbo’s back. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GOSH DO I LOVE WRITING THE DURIN FAM ALIVE AND TOGETHER AND HAPPY. Added bonus: Bilbo bonding w the fam :'))  
> Shoutout to my lovely beta [Kate](http://anunexpectedjourney.tumblr.com/) and find me [on tumblr](http://hobbitunderthemountain.tumblr.com/) for updates and such. Thanks, everyone!! :D


	6. Chapter 6

Frerin and Víli spent the several afternoons behind the centre constructing their ‘monster’ out of spare pieces of driftwood. From time to time Bilbo was called out to give his opinion and any pointers on how to make the sculpture as lifelike as possible. Bilbo felt it was a little silly; they all knew the myth just as well as he did, but he appreciated the family trying to involve him as much as possible.

Finally, the night before the family planned to head home, they decided that they’d finished the sculpture the best they could and they were finally ready to film the false sighting. After some discussion, they decided the best time to film would be early evening just as the sun was setting. The lighting would be perfect — light enough to make out a dark shape but dark enough to hide any and all details.

“Okay, the sun is setting and we’re all loaded up and ready to go!” Frerin came into the centre followed by Thorin, Víli, Fíli, and Kíli. Dís had been inside all day helping Bilbo continue his work with balancing the books. “You’re coming, right, Bilbo?”

“Oh, I mean we’re still open for another hour and someone has to stay and watch the centre,” Bilbo shrugged apologetically.

“No,” Thorin shook his head quickly. “You have to come with us. You’re our expert after all,” Thorin hastily explained his outburst.

“True, you’re the one who would know the _real_ Smaug. We need to utilize your skills and have you tell us the prime spot for our sighting,” Víli enthusiastically suggested.

“Oh, hardly. I’m sure any spot out there would be just fine and I—” Bilbo quickly explained.

“Oh, Bilbo. Go do your ridiculous things, I’ll watch the centre.” Dís smiled. “It was your idea after all. You deserve to go out and have fun for once since you’ve been here.”

“If you’re sure,” Bilbo hesitantly agreed. “I’m still not sure this will actually work,” Bilbo muttered as he followed the others out of the centre.

“It’s not about if it works or not, it’s about having fun with it,” Frerin encouraged him.

Bilbo had to admit to himself, he was a little nervous about going out on the lake. _Well, wouldn’t anybody feel nervous about going out on a boat that only a week or two earlier would have been deemed unsafe to use?_

He’d never been a very strong swimmer either. Perhaps it was ironic that he had fallen in love with a myth about a lake-monster when he himself was nervous around water. Bilbo didn’t remember feeling this nervous when he was younger. In fact, he remembered being so very excited to go out on the boats the few times he’d been there in his youth. Of course, back then he was too young to really understand the danger. Back then, the boats were in perfect working condition too.

“You all right, Bilbo?” Frerin asked as he helped his youngest nephew onto the boat.

“Do you get seasick easily?” Víli asked as he handed a life vest to Fíli.

“Don’t tell me you’re nervous,” Thorin smiled fondly at him. The fondness only seemed to irritate Bilbo.

“Of course I’m not nervous,” Bilbo mumbled. “Hand me a life vest.”

“You know I wouldn’t let you or...or any of my family out on this boat if I knew it wasn’t safe,” Thorin tried to assure Bilbo.  “Your money went to ensuring the safety of this boat. I didn’t go and spend it on frivolous things.”

“Well, I’m glad,” Bilbo gave Thorin a hesitant smile. “It’s just...you’ve never exactly travelled with this thing on your boat,” Bilbo gestured to the sculpture on the boat that was taking up quite a bit of space.

“It’s not exactly heavy,” Víli assured him. “It shouldn’t give us too much difficulty.”

“Come on,” Thorin gestured to the passenger side seat besides the driver’s seat. Bilbo anxiously fiddled with his life vest before navigating around the sculpture of Smaug and taking his seat beside Thorin.

As the boat roared to life, Bilbo wondered how exactly they were planning on shooting this. At first he’d thought perhaps they’d just shoot from the pier or a nearby beach.

“It can’t be mistaken for just any old piece of driftwood,” Víli had explained to him the day before. “Frerin and I have devised a kind of puppeteering system so we’ll be able to maneuver the piece from the boat. Or at least that’s the idea.”

Bilbo turned in his seat and watched as the sun began to dip below the horizon, painting everything in cooler hues and the lake surface going dark. It did set the appropriate mood for filming a ‘sighting’ of the beast. His heart raced a little as he began thinking about how they would be contributing to the legacy of the lake. Anyone doing research on the subject after they published the video would now include today’s sighting if everything went according to plan.

Eventually Thorin killed the engine when they were far enough away from shore.

“What do you think?” Thorin turned and asked his brother and brother-in-law. “Is this good?”

The two men looked around and discussed the pros and cons of certain vantage points before finally deciding which direction would be best. With help from the boys, they deployed the buoyant conglomeration of driftwood.

“Hold tight,” Frerin advised his nephews as they grasped at one of the safety lines that connected to the sculpture. Finally, Frerin and Víli took hold of the lines and experimented moving the sculpture. Bilbo watched as it drifted a little further from the boat and bobbed at the water's surface.  

“That’s...actually very impressive,” Bilbo remarked as he watched it move. Frerin and Víli had been very attentive to every detail of their contraption made to look like the lake-monster. “I might even believe it and I know it’s a faked sighting,” Bilbo chuckled to himself.

“Wouldn’t it be crazy if we were out here filming something for the fake video and we actually saw something?” Kíli suggested excitedly.

“That would be pretty cool,” Frerin agreed. “Then we wouldn’t have to doctor any of the footage. It’d make my job easier. But if we truly did see something, that would mean there’s an actual monster out there and we’d be fucked.”

“Frerin,” Thorin gave his brother an exasperated glance.

“Thorin, Kíli’s thirteen, they’re not toddlers.” Frerin rolled his eyes. “But, don’t tell your mother I used that word,” Frerin quickly added. “You too, Víli,” Frerin grinned at his brother-in-law. Víli merely gave a disappointed sigh.

They spent another ten minutes playing with the movement of the sculpture in the water.

“We’ll need to film something if we’re going to do it tonight. The sun’s continuing to set and we’ll be in complete darkness soon. I know there’s not a real monster out here but I’d rather not be out here past dark,” Bilbo warned them.

“It’s not so bad out here after dark,” Frerin assured Bilbo. “Remember when we’d sneak out on the boats after dark when we were younger, Thorin?” Frerin looked excitedly to his elder brother.

Bilbo tutted.

“That doesn’t sound like you, Thorin,” Bilbo chuckled.

“Frerin and Dwalin talked me into it,” Thorin rolled his eyes.

“Oh, you were more than willing to do so, if I remember correctly,” Frerin recalled. Víli made a strangled sound as he gestured sharply for them to end the discussion. When Frerin looked questioningly at him, Víli sighed.

“We don’t need to give anyone ideas,” Víli gestured vaguely to Fíli and Kíli.

“We don’t even know how to drive the boat,” Fíli shrugged. “And Mum would literally murder us.”

“Yes, she would,” Víli nodded vigorously.

“All right, as Bilbo said, we have limited lighting left today, so let’s start doing something if we’re doing anything at all,” Thorin hurried them along.

“Okay, yes,” Víli nodded. “Fíli, you’re going to film, right?”

Fíli pulled out his phone in response.

“Do we need to rehearse lines or no?” Frerin asked.

“They have a script?” Bilbo muttered to Thorin.

“Of course,” Thorin chuckled. He opened his mouth to say something more but was cut off.

“Quiet on the set, please!” Frerin called, looking pointedly at his brother. Bilbo smiled and Thorin rolled his eyes exasperatedly.

They sat and watched as they did several takes; each time they would adjust their performance little by little. Bilbo found it amusing to watch Frerin in his directing debut, taking the part very seriously. When he’d first thought of this idea, he had not intended for it to become this big of a production.

“Look, what’s that?!” Kíli cried pointing out at the water during their third take. Bilbo and Thorin glanced at each other, wordlessly smiling at one another.

After about the fourth take the sun had properly set and darkness began to envelope them completely.

“All right, let’s call it a wrap,” Bilbo suggested as Fíli stopped filming. “It’s too dark out here to see anything any more, we'll just have to work with the takes we have.”

“Yeah, Mister Bilbo is right, the last take was really dark, I don’t know if that one will really be usable,” Fíli admitted, looking down at the screen on his cellphone.

“We’ll pull in Smaug and see what we’ve got when we get back to the centre,” Víli decided. Both he and Frerin began to pull on the lines that attached to the driftwood sculpture. Once it got close enough to the boat they struggled to get it back up and onto the deck of the boat.

Bilbo nervously watched before turning away and hope they got it onto the ship safely. When he heard a splash he immediately turned his attention back, fearing one of the boys had fallen in.

 _“Frerin!”_ Víli exclaimed and Thorin jumped up to run to the back of the boat. Bilbo spotted Frerin bobbing alongside the sculpture which still sat in the water. “What the _hell_ is wrong with you?”

“Come on, pull!” Frerin shouted. “I’ve got the underneath!”

Finally, after one last effort the driftwood was pulled back up onto the boat.

“Hoh!” Frerin exclaimed. “Okay, now get me out of here, it’s freezing!” Frerin reached up onto the boat. Víli and Thorin each grabbed ahold of Frerin’s hands and pulled him up and back onto the boat.

“Boys, get the emergency kit out!” Thorin called. “There should be an emergency space blanket in there. Give it to your idiot of an uncle. You do know you can get hypothermia from the temperatures of the water this time of year, don’t you?”

“Only if you’re in the water for more than a half an hour. It’s not _that_ bad,” Frerin complained as his teeth chattered.

“Make sure he doesn’t stop shivering, then we’ll have a problem. I’m going to get us back to shore,” Thorin told Víli.

Thorin came back to the driver's seat and Bilbo looked at him with concern.

“Is he all right?” Bilbo asked.

“Other than being a fool, yes,” Thorin sighed.

Bilbo sat back in his seat and looked out over the water. It was now fairly dark but his eyes caught something that moved in the water. He blinked again and it disappeared. He shivered uneasily and glanced over to Thorin who was just turning to meet his gaze. His eyes were wide and a tad fearful. Bilbo knew Thorin must have seen the same thing he did. Bilbo shook his head and glanced back at the others on the boat.

“I think I’m seeing things,” Bilbo muttered to himself. Thorin hummed in acknowledgement, but the two were silent as the engine roared to life. Thorin quickly maneuvered them back towards shore, not wanting to stick around and find out if they’d been seeing things or not.

When they got back they found the lights were still on at the visitors centre even though the sign now read ‘closed.’ Dís had spotted them docking at the pier and came outside, now joined by Dwalin.

“Did you get your footage?” Dís asked.

“Yes, or at least we hope so. Also, Uncle Frerin jumped in the lake,” Kíli told his mother.

“H-Hey, you’re not s-supposed to t-t-tattle on me,” Frerin chattered.

“ _You did what?”_ Dís was just now realizing that Frerin was shivering and soaked from head to toe.

“Get him inside and run him a warm bath. Remember not too hot, just warm,” Thorin told his sister. “I’ll be inside in a bit. I need Víli and the boys to help me get the thing off the boat.”

Dís quickly escorted her soaked brother inside, scolding him all the way into the centre. Bilbo felt a little out of place as he watched the others work on moving the sculpture off the boat. He wasn’t sure if he could help in anyway and he wasn’t sure if it was appropriate to follow Thorin’s brother and sister inside. He didn’t quite feel like he should just head back to the bed and breakfast either.

Finally, he decided he’d remain awkwardly supervising the movement of the sculpture to behind the centre. By the time they made their way back inside, Bilbo was beginning to shiver. He couldn’t imagine being soaked by the frigid lake water.

When they got inside Fíli ran to grab his computer to upload the footage. Thorin also went upstairs to check on Frerin and help find him some dry clothes.

“Why did Frerin jump in the lake?” Bilbo asked Víli as Kíli wandered through to the exhibit area.

“He thought we wouldn’t be able to get it back on the boat unless we had someone pushing from below. He never thinks things through. I don’t think he realized how cold the water really was. Sure it was a nice day but I know how cold that water can still be this time of year.”

“I hope he’ll be okay,” Bilbo sighed, glancing over at the stairs that led to Thorin’s apartment.

“Luckily we’re not in the dead of December. He should be fine,” Víli shrugged. “I wish I could say that’s one of the most reckless things he’s done, but it’s not.”

Fíli returned downstairs and opened his laptop up and began uploading the videos from his phone to the computer.

“I know that last shot was dark but we could probably lighten it up,” Fíli explained to them. “It may give it a more authentic look anyway. If it’s too staged it’ll be obvious. When it’s dark like the last take was it looks more like it was taken spontaneously.”

“That’s true,” Víli nodded as Fíli rolled through the clips on his phone as they continued to upload. Thorin appeared back downstairs.

“Hey, if you guys want to come upstairs to work on the video you’re welcome to. Dís said she’s going to run over to the bed and breakfast and borrow some things to cook us a hot dinner so you’re more than welcome to stay a little longer Bilbo,” Thorin told them.

“You have to stay, Bilbo,” Fíli looked pleadingly up at Bilbo. “You’re our expert, afterall.”

“Well, I suppose I can’t say no to that,” Bilbo gave the teenager a kind smile. “You might want to go find your brother, though. He’s back in the exhibit somewhere.”

“Okay,” Fíli nodded as he closed his laptop and turned towards the exhibit himself.

“Just come upstairs once you’ve found him,” Víli told his son. “We’re going to head up.”

“Okay!” Fíli called again before disappearing as well. Bilbo followed Víli and Thorin back upstairs.

“All right, I’ll be right back,” Dís told them as they reached the apartment.

“Would you like any help?” Bilbo asked.

“Only if you’d like to,” Dís offered and Bilbo quickly accepted and followed her out of the centre.

Bombur was more than happy to share ingredients from the bed and breakfast’s pantry. Bilbo began to realize how much he’d missed cooking proper meals in a proper kitchen.

When they returned Frerin had gotten out of the bath and he was dressed for bed, with a blanket draped across his shoulders. He and Fíli were at the kitchen table, hunched over Fíli’s laptop reviewing the clips they’d captured.

“Bilbo, come look at these,” Frerin called and Bilbo diverted from his path to come join Frerin and Fili . “You know, there’s not much we need to add to this, actually,” Frerin commented. “Maybe some faint adjustments but this is great. It looks real and that’s the best we could ask for honestly.”

Dís walked over as well and looked over their shoulders.

“That’s actually not bad,” Dís nodded approvingly. “If I didn’t know any better I’d certainly question Smaug’s actual existence.”

“That’s what I said,” Bilbo chuckled.

“And he’s our expert,” Kíli told his mother excitedly.

“I know.” Dís ran a hand through her son’s unruly hair. “That means you all did very well if Mister Bilbo approves.”

Bilbo smiled warmly as the boys enthusiastically talked about the video and showing it to friends at school.

As Fíli put finishing touches on the video, Dís and Bilbo worked on dinner in Thorin’s small kitchen. Once dinner was done cooking, the family helped themselves and crowded around the compact table.

“What do you think, Uncle Thorin?” Kíli asked as they sat down.

“I think this meal looks delicious,” Thorin responded and Bilbo smothered his smile as Kíli gave his uncle his best exasperated look.

“I meant about the video!” Kíli exclaimed.

“Oh!” Thorin raised his eyebrows with a nod. “Yes, of course. I think it turned out well,” Thorin explained as he hungrily began to eat his food.

“Do you really think it’ll help the centre?” Fíli asked hesitantly.

“Anything will help at this point,” Bilbo answered for Thorin.

“Can we upload it tonight?” Kíli asked.

“If it’s all done, I suppose we could,” Bilbo felt his stomach flutter nervously.

“What do we think, is it ready to be uploaded?” Thorin asked his brother. Frerin nodded enthusiastically with food in his mouth.

“Oh, sure. Fíli, were you able to finish rendering the final video?” Frerin asked.

“I let it work while we’re eating. Hopefully it's done when we finish,” Fíli said. “We’ll have to upload it down on the computer in the centre since Uncle Thorin doesn’t have any wifi at all.” Fíli raised his eyebrows at his uncle.

“What? If I want to use the internet I can just use the front desk. I don’t need it that often,” Thorin defended himself.

As Víli and Dís cleaned up after dinner, the others trekked back downstairs to the main computer. Fíli plugged in his memory stick and pulled up the video.

“We’re just uploading this to the Facebook page, right?” Fíli asked as he opened an internet browser.

“Yes, that’s the only social media page I have completely set up so far,” Bilbo agreed. “I should still be logged in on this computer.

The two of them navigated to the page and began to upload the video. When they got to the description box Bilbo called Thorin over, who was quietly talking with Frerin.

“What should we put as the description when we post it?” Bilbo asked, his gaze moving between Thorin and Frerin.

“I don’t know, this is your thing,” Thorin shrugged.

“Come on, Thorin, have a little imagination,” Frerin groaned.

“That’s why we have you,” Thorin turned back to his brother. “What do you think?”

Frerin started brainstorming ideas and phrases. They eventually decided less is more and left the description fairly sparse and as Frerin said, ‘mysterious.’

“Okay, are we ready to post?” Bilbo asked.

“I think so!” Frerin nodded, looking over Bilbo’s shoulder. Bilbo turned to the younger brothers and raised his eyebrows. “Are you ready?” Bilbo asked.

Fíli and Kíli nodded excitedly.

“Now before this goes up remember you’re sworn to secrecy. On pain of death you will not reveal the secret to this video to anyone,” Bilbo told them dramatically.

They both gave an enthusiastic nod.

“Come on, post it!” Kíli exclaimed looking over Bilbo’s shoulder. Bilbo exhaled and clicked the post button.

“There we go.” Bilbo grinned broadly at the screen. Fíli and Kíli cheered and high fived each other and Thorin squeezed Bilbo’s shoulder.

“All right, why don’t we head upstairs and get ready for bed?” Frerin suggested to his nephews. “We’ve all got an early start tomorrow morning if we’re going to head home tomorrow.”

“But, Uncle Frerin,” Kíli protested. “We want to see how the video does! Refresh it, Mister Bilbo! Do we have any views yet?”

“It looks like it’s still processing, Kíli. It’ll be quite some time before it finishes,” Bilbo explained. “Better head upstairs. The sooner you get to sleep the sooner you’ll wake up and we can check how it did overnight.”

Finally the boys agreed and Bilbo caught Frerin giving his brother a sly wink before herding the boys back up to Thorin’s apartment. Thorin leaned against the desk, watching the computer screen in front of Bilbo as the two boys went upstairs to Thorin’s apartment.

“If this works…” Thorin trailed off with a quiet chuckle.

“You’ll give me a raise?” Bilbo raised his eyebrows.

“Anything you want,” Thorin confirmed. Bilbo beamed up at him.

“This will work, Thorin.” Bilbo assured him. “Like I told the boys, we’ll check the page in the morning, all right?”

“Yes,” Thorin nodded. “Sounds good.”

“I’m going to head home...well to the bed and breakfast, you know,” Bilbo mumbled as he stood up and collected his things.

“Won’t you wait to head back with Dís and Víli?” Thorin asked. “You sure you don’t want to come upstairs and have coffee or something?” Thorin offered.

“You’ve got a full house up there and I’m starting to get tired. Spend some more time with your family before they leave,” Bilbo told him.

“H-Hey, before you leave for tonight, I need to ask you something,” Thorin started hesitantly.

“What is it?” Bilbo asked.

“Did you... _see_ something tonight when we were out filming?” Thorin asked.

“No...I mean...I might have...I-I don’t know,” Bilbo shrugged.

“I just...it was weird…” Thorin muttered. “I could have sworn I saw something in the lake move and I feel like it was something bigger than a fish.”

“Don’t be silly,” Bilbo chuckled nervously as he reflected back on the form they’d both clearly seen in the water. “I mean, it was dark. Our imaginations were overactive with the whole...filming on our minds, right?” Bilbo questioned anxiously.

“Right, yeah,” Thorin nodded. “Just because we both… I mean like you said, overactive imaginations. Makes sense,” Thorin mumbled.

“I mean, you must go a little crazy up here all the time surrounded by the myth,” Bilbo offered. Thorin offered an unsure smile and a nod. “Try not to think about it too much,” Bilbo told him reassuringly. “There’s no actual evidence that Smaug actually lives out there. Don’t lose sleep over it.”

“It was just...odd,” Thorin mumbled.

Bilbo hesitantly reached for Thorin, placing his hand on Thorin’s arm with a gentle squeeze and they smiled softly at each other in the dimly lit centre.

“Goodnight, Thorin,” Bilbo murmured at last.

“See you tomorrow,” Thorin said as Bilbo headed for the door.

**x**

The next day Thorin’s family was packing up to leave. As they finished packing the car, Fíli and Kíli looked over Bilbo’s shoulders at his smartphone while he looked through responses on the fake video. There wasn’t much but Fíli and Kíli were excited nonetheless.

“We’ll be watching to see how it does!” Kíli told Bilbo excitedly.

“I don’t know if it’s going to gain much more traction but, we’ll see,” Bilbo smiled.

“We’ll definitely be back up for the summer months,” Dís told both Thorin and Bilbo. “Maybe your little scheme will drum up enough business to keep us all busy.”

“That’s the plan,” Bilbo nodded. Dís reached forward and wrapped her arms around Thorin making him promise to take care of himself. Then to Bilbo’s surprise Dís turned to him and wrapped her arms around him as well.

“And if he _doesn’t_ take care of himself, make sure you take care of him,” Dís requested. “He needs someone watching out for him,” she continued, “and not Dwalin,” Dís turned to Thorin. “He’s just as bad as you are sometimes.”

“I’ll keep them out of trouble,” Bilbo assured her.

“You’re a good man, Bilbo,” Dís sighed. “We’ll see you during the summer.”

“Yes,” Bilbo nodded. “It was nice to finally meet you.”

They watched as the car pulled away and Thorin tentatively reached his arm around Bilbo’s shoulders.

“Thank you for this week,” Thorin muttered. Bilbo didn’t respond and only leaned into Thorin’s grasp. “I know how crazy it was to have my entire family here, I’m sorry.”

“It was nice,” Bilbo sighed, his own arm snaking around Thorin’s waist. “I miss having a lot of family around. It was nice to have them all here even if they were a bit...overwhelming.”

“You can unleash your family on me in retaliation if you’d like,” Thorin offered. Bilbo smiled, imagining his cousins meeting Thorin. It was an incredibly hilarious scenario to imagine.

“I won’t subject you to that quite yet,” Bilbo promised. “But someday I will have my vengeance. Perhaps sooner than you think. My cousin said she might convince her family and some of the others to come up this summer to visit me.”

“I look forward to it,” Thorin chuckled. “Would you like to come in and have dinner?” Thorin asked.

“Sounds nice,” Bilbo agreed. “Pasta again?”

“It’s...what I’ve got on hand and the only thing I know how to cook properly,” Thorin replied sheepishly.

“Maybe Dís left some extra ingredients from last night? I might be able to fix us something else,” Bilbo offered. “That’s the one thing I do miss about home - my kitchen. And I miss cooking,” Bilbo sighed.

“I’d like that,” Thorin hummed warmly. “Maybe you can teach me a thing or two so I don’t have live off of take out food.”

Bilbo laughed as he followed Thorin inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for continuing to read/commenting/kudos/liking/reblogging etc!! 
> 
> As always thanks to my beta [Kate](http://anunexpectedjourney.tumblr.com/) and find me [on tumblr](http://hobbitunderthemountain.tumblr.com/) for any and all writing updates and ramblings.


	7. Chapter 7

By Monday, the video had more views. Apparently a local news station picked it up and advertised it on their website. There was now a plethora of comments both good and bad, but mostly of the bad variety as the video began to get traction.

Bilbo was frustrated and amused. That afternoon he stopped by the local liquor store and picked up a cheap bottle of wine before calling Thorin.

“You’ve seen the comments on the video then?” Thorin answered his phone.

“Yeah,” Bilbo chuckled. “Mind if I come over tonight? Maybe we can get a good laugh out of how idiotic and terrible some of these comments are.”

“Looking through those comments aren’t quite my idea of fun, but why not… could be interesting,” Thorin answered. “I hadn’t had much planned for dinner but I suppose I could pick something up from Bombur’s.”

“Sounds good to me. I’ll be around by seven,” Bilbo agreed.

“Terrific,” Thorin replied. “See you then.”

Bilbo finished up the rest of his errands he had scheduled for his day off and then returned to the bed and breakfast to get ready for his dinner with Thorin. Not that it took much to get ready, but he wanted a little time to mentally prepare because for some bizarre reason he was a little nervous.

“You’re overthinking this,” Bilbo told his reflection as he gave himself one last look in the mirror. “It’s just… dinner. Just dinner.” _And an excuse to see Thorin on their day off._ Maybe he felt nervous because it seemed a little pathetic to make up an excuse like reading terrible comments on the internet about Erebor to see Thorin. But Bilbo did genuinely enjoy Thorin’s presence and the fact that Thorin accepted the invitation to have dinner together meant that he enjoyed Bilbo’s, as well. Unless of course he felt pressured to not seem rude. What if he was only tolerating Bilbo?

“All right, that’s enough,” Bilbo scolded himself as he looked down at his phone. It was ten minutes until seven and Bilbo supposed he had better be on his way. Grabbing the bottle of wine, he headed out, offering a quick goodbye to Bofur on his way.

Bilbo quickly made his way down the street and smiled when the visitor centre came into sight. Sticking the bottle of wine under his arm, he found his set of keys and let himself in.

“Hello,” Bilbo called as he walked in. He shut the door behind himself and made his way to the back to where the staircase led up to Thorin’s apartment. “Thorin?”

Thorin appeared at the top of the stairs and Bilbo smiled as he began his ascent.

“Ah, you’ve brought a celebratory bottle of wine,” Thorin noted as he took the bottle from Bilbo’s hands when he reached the top of the stairs.

“Of course,” Bilbo replied. “Figured it pairs well with cheap takeaway and horrible internet comments.”

“Absolutely,” Thorin chuckled. “I only just got back. The food is on the counter.”

“Great,” Bilbo smiled and moved into Thorin’s kitchen, shedding his coat and putting his keys on the table before heading over to the bag of takeaway. As he pulled out his box he caught Thorin smiling warmly at him, a full fledged grin threatening to bubble to the surface.

“What?” Bilbo could feel his face burning.

“I just… it’s funny. We see each other every day of the week and the one day of the week we have off we’re still…” Thorin gestured to the take away boxes and the bottle of the wine. Bilbo couldn’t help but grin widely, beyond relieved that Thorin seemed just as glad to see him as Bilbo was.

“Well, of course,” Bilbo shrugged nonchalantly. “Saving this place takes constant vigilance!” Bilbo explained teasingly.

“Constant vigilance and alcohol apparently.” Thorin took down two wine glasses from a cabinet in the kitchen.

“Yes,” Bilbo grinned. Before they gave the false video a second thought they sat down to dinner and talked about what they did on their day off. Thorin told Bilbo about how well the repairs were coming on the boats and that Dwalin had come over to help finish the things that needed doing.

“You do realize this is your day off,” Bilbo replied. “You didn’t have to be out working on things today.”

“I never truly take the day off,” Thorin explained. “I don’t think I’m capable. Constant vigilance,” Thorin chuckled.

“That was a joke, Thorin. Honestly, you’re going to work yourself to death one of these days,” Bilbo sighed.

“Don’t worry about me,” Thorin countered. “It’s how I keep myself sane.” Bilbo gave a low disapproving hum before finishing up his dinner.

“You might want to try a little more relaxing method of keeping yourself sane,” Bilbo suggested. Thorin gave Bilbo a thoughtful look and a small shrug as he finished his own meal.

As Thorin began to clean up after dinner, he poured them both a little more wine.

“Not the whole bottle tonight, please,” Bilbo told him as he pulled up the social media app on his phone. “This is more than enough for tonight. We’ll save the rest for another night, all right?”

“We may need it by the end of the night if the comments are really that bad,” Thorin suggested as they moved over to the sofa.

“All right, are you ready?” Bilbo pulled up the comments section.

“This is a bad idea,” Thorin mumbled. Bilbo started at the top of the comments section and worked his way down. Every three comments there’d usually be one that sounded excited by the new video or just enthusiastic to have a reminder of the small tourist town, but the rest were ridiculing the video for its obvious trickery.

“Come on, this is harmless fun,” Thorin groaned after hearing one of the more vile comments. “I really thought our video was pretty good. I mean Fíli and Kíli’s acting could have been better, but it’s a good video!”

“It is! No, okay, I’m replying to this one,” Bilbo decided. He put down his wine glass and sat up straight, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose. “These people are just rude. It _is_ just a bit of fun, why do they have to act as if I just killed their entire family?” Bilbo muttered as he furiously typed away on his phone. “Okay listen to this, Thorin. ‘Don’t believe our claim? Come up and see the lake for yourself.’ See, it’s clever because we’re still going to profit off the doubters if they come.” Bilbo giggled to himself about how clever it was.

“You’re only going to cause us more trouble in the long run, I have a feeling,” Thorin sighed, pouring himself more wine. “That’s how we lost most of our business after the boom in ‘93.”

“You guys did great though didn’t you?” Bilbo frowned. “All I’ve heard about is how well you did after that documentary.”

“Well for that year we did well, but after that it died off quickly. I mean the documentary basically proved there was nothing in the lake.”

“I think it left it pretty inconclusive. Anyway, it got people thinking about it and that’s exactly what we’re doing now,” Bilbo argued.

“All right, whatever you say,” Thorin sighed. “These comments are horrendous though, can we give it a rest for tonight? I’ve had enough negativity for the evening.”

“Yeah, they are starting to get irritating,” Bilbo admitted. “Maybe this wasn’t a good idea.” Bilbo closed his eyes and let his head loll against the back of the sofa.

“At least it’s better than doing nothing and just waiting for the inevitable,” Thorin attempted to cheer Bilbo up.

“Only time will tell, I suppose.” Bilbo shrugged. “Ah, I figure I better head back to the bed and breakfast soon. It’s getting late.”

“Would you like me to walk you home?” Thorin asked as Bilbo got up from the couch.

“No, I’m not nearly as intoxicated as I was last week,” Bilbo chuckled. “I can find my way home.” Bilbo wrapped himself up in his jacket. “Oh, before I forget, let me pay you back for dinner.” Bilbo reached for his wallet.

“Don’t worry about it.” Thorin shrugged off the offer. “You brought the bottle of wine, I can take care of dinner. It’s fine.”

“Are you sure?” Bilbo asked. “It’s no trouble at all to pay for my meal and the wine.”

“Chalk it up to another ‘thank you’ dinner, if you’d like,” Thorin assured him.

“Well, thank you,” Bilbo blushed. “I appreciate it.”

Thorin escorted him downstairs and let him out the front, bidding him goodnight.

“Bilbo, it really was a good idea,” Thorin told him softly as they stood at the door. “The video, I mean.”

“I know,” Bilbo replied with a smug smile. “Only time will tell if it worked, though. Thanks for dinner. I still had fun despite the… negativity.”

“Me too,” Thorin smiled. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Bilbo nodded. “Goodnight.” Bilbo left the centre and Thorin closed up behind him, giving him one last wave.

Bilbo waved back and sighed as he looked out over the peaceful water reflecting the nearly full moon. The wind nipped at his exposed cheeks and Bilbo quickly headed for the bed and breakfast.

He glanced out across the lake and thought back to the shape he and Thorin had seen in the water the night they had filmed the false sighting. Thorin was right, it had looked like it was bigger than an ordinary fish… no, it was impossible. But for both of them to spot something odd? It couldn’t a coincidence.

**x**

Over the next week the video got even more traffic and more comments either defending Erebor or calling them frauds.

That same week, they got a phonecall from the local television station, who was interested in filming a segment about the centre and the video.  Bilbo excitedly agreed and marked down the time and date they would be out to do the interview.

As soon as Bilbo hung up the phone he grabbed the page he’d written the information down on and hurried out the door, anxious to find Thorin. He went down to the docks, but he couldn’t find Thorin on any of the boats and the boats were all docked at the pier. Luckily Bilbo had thought to bring along the walkie and he shakily reached for it as he shoved the paper in his pocket.

“Thorin, where are you?” Bilbo called over the radio.

“Down the shore quite a ways,” the response finally came and Bilbo looked along the shore as far as he could and didn’t see him. “What’s wrong, Bilbo? Is something the matter? Are you hurt?”

“Hurt?” Bilbo laughed. “No, no, of course not. I have some exciting news though!” Bilbo grinned as he told Thorin through the radio.

“What is it?” Thorin asked tentatively.

“Oh, please, I want to tell you in person,” Bilbo sighed, clenching and unclenching his fist. “Come back in for the night and I’ll tell you.”

“Bilbo,” Thorin sighed, sounding irritated.

“Please,” Bilbo begged.

“Fine, I’ll be in soon, you infuriating—” Thorin replied over the radio and Bilbo laughed as he returned to the centre. He was already crafting how the interview would go in his head. It wasn’t long before Thorin came hurrying into the centre. “Okay, what is it? What’s happened?” Thorin asked.

“I just got off the phone,” Bilbo started vaguely.

“With who?” Thorin immediately asked. “For what?”

“I just got off the phone with the local television station. They want to come interview us and do a piece on the lake and the video.”

“Oh, my God.” Thorin covered his hands with his face.

“Isn’t that fantastic?” Bilbo grinned.

“I honestly don’t even know how to respond,” Thorin replied. “It’s good I suppose…but it’s terrifying.”

“It’s not terrifying. _This_ is how we drum up business. You know how many people are going to see this piece? It’s working, Thorin. _It’s working._ ”

“We’ll probably just get an even worse backlash than the stupid internet comments,” Thorin mumbled.

“No, no,” Bilbo shook his head. “Thorin, this is local news. It’s a fluff piece to fill time. It’s all for fun… you know what? Just let me handle it. I’ll do the talking. You just stand there behind me and do what you do best.”

“And what is it that I do best?” Thorin frowned.

“Look pretty,” Bilbo replied with a touch of snark to his answer. Thorin rolled his eyes.

“It’s my family business,” Thorin argued. “I should say _something.”_

“All right, you have a point I suppose,” Bilbo chuckled. “We’ll work on it.” Bilbo decided.

**x**

“Have you thought about what you want to say during our news segment yet?”Bilbo asked a couple days later when Thorin came into the centre for lunch.

“I thought this was going to be your thing, seeing as you're my new marketing director.” Thorin shrugged.

“I need a little help. As you said, it is your family business,” Bilbo argued.

“Okay, what do you think they’ll ask?” Thorin questioned. “I don’t know how to prepare for an interview if I don’t know the questions.”

“The usual stuff,” Bilbo said, nonchalantly. “We’ll divide up the questions. Any time they ask about the centre itself and information, you’ll take those questions. Any questions they pose about the myth and the video will go to me.”

“Sounds fair,” Thorin agreed as he followed Bilbo to the back room where they both went to the fridge for their lunches.

“Have you told your family about our upcoming local news segment?”

“I haven’t… exactly thought about telling them,” Thorin frowned. “So, no.”

“I mentioned something to Dís in an email and she said you hadn’t told her,” Bilbo explained.

“Oh, what, you’re now on a weekly email basis with my sister?” Thorin frowned.

“We’re discussing potential new signage for this summer,” Bilbo defended himself. “We discussed it when she was here. We were thinking we could update some things in here before we get our big rush.”

Thorin hummed pensively as he made himself a sandwich.

“Anyway, she’s thrilled about it,” Bilbo continued. “Can’t wait to see it. Hopefully they’ll put the segment up on the website that night so they can see it. Remind me to ask them if they’ll do that.”

“All right,” Thorin rolled his eyes with a soft chuckle.

Over the next couple days they went over potential interview questions and brainstormed several things that should definitely be touched on in the interview.

Before they knew it, the day had come and the news station was outside the centre setting up cameras and audio equipment. The news anchor who would be doing the interview came over and introduced himself.

“Hello, I’m Bard and I’ll be conducting the interview,” Bard introduced himself.

“Pleasure to meet you, Bard,” Bilbo extended his arm and shook the man’s hand. Thorin continued to look skeptical of the whole thing.

“This isn’t going to be live, is it?” Thorin asked Bard as he hesitantly glanced at the equipment being unloaded from the news van.

“Course not,” Bard assured him. “We’ll do a couple shots and they’ll edit it all together in the news room.”

“Excellent,” Bilbo nodded. “Thank you again for this, we’re really grateful.”

“It’s nice to help out a local business, especially one that my family loves so much,” Bard explained. “We come up to visit from Dale every couple years. In fact, my wife was just by several weeks ago with our daughters to replace a misplaced stuffed Smaug,” Bard smiled.

“Oh, yes! I remember them!” Bilbo exclaimed excitedly. “Your wife was the one who inspired me to update our web presence, so please tell her thank you for me.”

“Oh, excellent,” Bard smiled broadly. “Ingrid has always had a mind for business. She said there was a new face in the centre. She must have meant you.”

“Yes, that was me,” Bilbo chuckled.

“She told me you were helping out because you were a friend of the family’s?” Bard asked.

“Kind of,” Bilbo blushed. “Actually, I was wondering if… well you see, Thorin’s family lives pretty far away. Far enough they don’t get the local news, you see and I was just wondering if the segment will be put on the website for them to watch. They’re very excited to see the piece.”

“Of course! Usually it takes our team a little while to get segments like that up but I’ll see if they can put a rush on that piece. Hopefully they’ll have it up just after it airs.”

Their conversation shifted topics as Bard began to talk them through what the interview would entail. He also explained the basic structure of the segment. Finally everything had been set up and a member of the production team let Bard know they were ready.

“Ready?” Bard looked to the two as he was handed a microphone. “Like I said, I’m just going to ask a few questions and everything will be edited together later so don’t worry too much about your answers.” The cameraman counted down till he began recording. Bard introduced himself, the story, and Bilbo and Thorin.

“We’re here in Erebor, the tourist town just outside of Dale. I’m joined by the owner of the visitor centre, Thorin Durinson and mythological expert, Bilbo Baggins, as they’re gearing up for the summer tourism months,” Bard introduced them. “Can you tell us a little bit about what you offer here at the visitor centre?”

Thorin took the first question and explained that they offered boat tours and that the inside of the visitor centre offered some education about the town’s history as well as the myths concerning the lake monster.

“Speaking of the old myth, we reported the other week that you had posted a new video of the lake, showing us what could be the monster itself. Can you tell me a little bit more about that video?”

“Of course,” Bilbo answered. “There hasn’t been a sighting here at the lake for nearly two decades and it’s been fairly quiet. I think Smaug is beginning to grow restless and bored. We were out testing the boats before our tours start up in the summer and that was when we spotted something in the water. I saw the ripples on the water and the hair on the back of my neck stood straight up.” Bilbo began to draw on the way he felt when he and Thorin thought they had seen something in the water. “What’s interesting with a lot of these myths is that you tend to hear of cycles in the sightings, which leads my fellow cryptozoologists and I to believe there might be some truth to these urban legends.”

“And what would you say to those who are criticizing the video?” Bard asked. “Not many believe in the old legend anymore.”

“I only ask that you come out and see the lake for yourself. You can definitely feel there’s a sense of magic out here even if you don’t believe in the monster. I’m a testament to that, my family visited the lake a few times when I was young and I’ve just fallen in love with the place all over again.”

Bard wrapped up the segment by reminding people of the centre’s summer hours and to check the station’s website for more information, including links to the centre’s website and social media pages.

Then the red light on the camera turned off and they were done.

“That was excellent, thank you.” Bard shook Bilbo's hand and then Thorin's.

“Thank you,” Bilbo replied quickly. “I’m hoping this will really help business pick up.”

“Usually any businesses we include in our spotlight featurettes do see a boost in business afterwards,” Bard encouraged them. Bilbo smiled in relief.

“That’s really great to hear,” Bilbo told the newsman enthusiastically. “Thank you very much for this opportunity.”

“It’s no problem. Like I said, we’ve got some fond memories up here at the lake too. I think we’re going to try to come up here sometime this summer, too,” Bard promised them.

“We look forward to it,” Bilbo assured him.

“When can we expect to see this on the air?” Thorin asked.

“Look for it Wednesday night,” Bard told them.

They said their goodbyes as the rest of the equipment was packed into the van.

“Felt like that went well, what about you?” Bilbo asked as they headed back into the centre.

“It was… short.” Thorin replied.

“What did you expect, that they were going to sit us down and do an hour long interview?” Bilbo chuckled.

“No,” Thorin shook his head. “But you did really well,” Thorin commended him. “The way you talked about this place… was… it was really nice to hear.”

“Well, just… telling the truth,” Bilbo blushed. “Celebratory takeaway?” Bilbo suggested before Thorin could elaborate on his praise of Bilbo’s part in the interview.

“I still have half of that bottle of wine you brought over from the other night,” Thorin offered.

“Terrific,” Bilbo beamed.

After the centre officially closed for the evening, the two of them went out to pick up their takeaway together and returned to Thorin’s apartment. Thorin poured them the last of the wine.

“To Wednesday night,” Bilbo raised his glass.

“To Wednesday night,” Thorin echoed, raising his own glass to meet Bilbo’s.

**x**

By the time Wednesday night rolled around, everyone had crowded into the living area in the bed and breakfast. Bombur had created an array of food and they hosted their own viewing party for the news that night. Dwalin joined them and brought a case of beer over to accompany the party.

“You’d think we’re celebrating the second coming of Christ,” Thorin mumbled from his spot on the couch squeezed against Bilbo. The living area where the television was at didn’t accommodate as many people as Bilbo thought it should have, seeing as it was a bed and breakfast that could host several families. Between Bombur, Bofur, Bifur, Dwalin, Thorin, and Bilbo it was a tight squeeze. Bombur did take up the chair and a half perched in the corner, which did eat into some of the sitting space, but Bilbo still considered having a word with Bofur about resituating the room and getting extra seating for future guests.

“Come on, Thorin, don’t act like that,” Bilbo rolled his eyes. “This is exciting! When was the last time something this exciting  happened here?” Thorin grumbled in response. “That’s what I thought. Now come on, have one the beers Dwalin brought and just enjoy yourself.”

“I _am_ enjoying myself,” Thorin protested.

“You have a funny way of showing it,” Bilbo chuckled.

“I think I will go grab a beer, would you like one?” Thorin stood from the sofa as the news program went to commercial break.

“Yes, please,” Bilbo agreed. “Thank you!” Bilbo called. Bofur was smiling broadly at Bilbo as he began to ask how much traffic he thinks they’ll drive in during the summer months.

“Hopefully quite a bit!” Bilbo grinned.

“You know if we have enough people in town we may have to raise your weekly price here at the bed and breakfast,” Bofur shrugged with a small smile.

“Oh, if need be I’ll vacate my room and allow you to rent it out,” Bilbo excitedly volunteered. “That would be amazing if we had that many people come through.”

“Yes, but where will you stay if that happens?” Bofur asked.

“He can stay with me,” Thorin offered as he came back to the sofa and handed Bilbo his beer.

“No offense, Thorin, but the couch downstairs isn’t really that comfortable,” Bilbo chuckled. “I’ve been thinking about finding my own place here actually. Having to vacate my rooms to make room for more guests would be motivation enough to get a headstart on that.”

The entire party looked startled to hear Bilbo’s news.

“What’s this?” Bofur asked.

“You haven’t told me this,” Thorin furrowed his brows. Bilbo realized he hadn’t really meant to tell anyone just yet about his half-baked idea but the thought that they might have more than the usual amount of tourists in town that summer excited him so much he let it slip without a second thought.

They weren’t able to discuss it long because next thing they knew the news was introducing the Erebor segment.

“Oh! Oh, here we go!” Bombur cheered excitedly. Their attention now turned to the television and Bilbo’s hand excitedly squeezed Thorin’s thigh as they appeared on screen. They had edited the segment a little bit but there was a definite focus on Bilbo’s explanation that he’d fallen in love with the place all over again since his childhood visits.

Just as the interview process had been, the segment was incredibly short.

“Excellent job, gentlemen! We shall have a bustling season this year, I’m sure of it!” Bofur declared. Almost as soon as the segment was over Bilbo’s phone began ringing. Bilbo looked down at his phone and nearly jumped as he got off the couch to go find a quiet place to talk. Thorin frowned, watching Bilbo leave, feeling a little concern about the look on Bilbo’s face as he answered.

“Wonder if he knows someone who gets our local news and was surprised to see him featured as part of our little community,” Bofur chuckled.

“It might startle quite a few people he knows. I don’t think his entire family knows he’s been up here all this time.” Thorin explained quietly. “He says he’s talked to a cousin or two… but…”

Thorin was interrupted by his own phone alerting him to a new text message.

 **Dís** **  
** _The interview was excellent!_

 **Dís** **  
** _I especially enjoyed Bilbo’s comment about ‘falling in love with the place again’._

Thorin slightly rolled his eyes before beginning to type out a response.

“They must have just gotten the segment up on the website,” Thorin commented as he finished his text.

 **Thorin** **  
** _He really did a spectacular job of selling the place._

He closed his phone and looked over to Bilbo, who looked like he was in deep conversation.

“Has he said anything to you about moving up here permanently?” Thorin asked the innkeeper softly.

“No, it’s the first I’ve heard of it.” Bofur shrugged. “I will be sad to lose our finest guest,” he joked. “But hey if he stays in town that’s good news for all of us, you especially.” Bofur raised his eyebrows in Thorin’s direction.

“Please,” Thorin grumbled.

“I only meant for all the wonderful help he’s been giving you and the centre!” Bofur explained innocently. “Could be good for you for personal reasons too though,” Bofur mused and Dwalin snickered. Thorin’s phone buzzed in his grasp.

 **Dís** **  
** _I honestly don’t think he was talking so much about the lake, if you know what I mean._

 **Thorin** **  
** _Shut up._

Almost at the same instant Thorin’s phone buzzed with a message from his brother.

 **Frerin** **  
** _Didn’t realize they were interviewing Bilbo about your relationship with him._

Thorin wanted to throw his phone across the room.

 **Thorin** **  
** _Will you stop it? That news bit was serious and it’s really going to help us this summer._

“Who’s texting you?” Dwalin asked, taking a swig of his beer. “Your sister?”

“Yes, unfortunately,” Thorin growled. “Frerin too.”

“They must be happy with the news portion, right?” Bombur asked.

“Yes, they’re pleased.” Thorin sighed before downing the rest of his beer. He got up to dispose of the bottle and his plate. Coming back to the living area, he paused in the hall outside the kitchen near where Bilbo was perched, quietly talking on the phone. Bilbo gave him an unamused look as he continued his conversation.

“Look, Aunt Mira, I’m very grateful you’ve called but it’s getting late and I’ve had a long day… mhm, yes… yes I’ll give you a call back tomorrow. Tell the others I said hello. I’ll be in contact with everyone soon… mhm, all right. Love you too,” Bilbo wrapped up his conversation. “Goodnight.”

Thorin smiled.

“My aunt,” Bilbo sighed a little apologetically. “She lives about an hour away and was watching the news and was surprised to see me.” Thorin hummed, amused that Bofur had guessed so accurately.

“You reminded me to tell my family and you didn’t tell any of yours?” Thorin raised his eyebrows with a smirk.

“It’s a little more important for your family to see,” Bilbo explained with a shrug. “It’s not _my_ family’s business that’s needing a boost this summer.”

“Yes, but it’s not every day that a family member is a star of the local news,” Thorin teased Bilbo.

“Oh, shut up,” Bilbo chuckled, rolling his eyes. “I was not _the star_ of the local news.”

“But you were. It was mostly your interview. I just stood there and… how did you put it? Looked pretty,” Thorin grinned.

“Did you hear from your sister?” Bilbo smiled, bashfully changing the subject. “Have they seen the bit?”

“Both my sister and brother texted me, yeah,” Thorin replied shortly.

“Were they happy with the piece even though I seemingly stole the spotlight?” Bilbo questioned.

“Oh, they were very pleased with your testimonial,” Thorin told him. “They have high hopes for this summer.”

“Good, I’m glad.” Bilbo smiled with a yawn. It was getting quite late and he was getting slightly exhausted by all the excitement that night.

“Hey, when were you going to tell me you were thinking of buying a place up here?” Thorin asked quietly.

“I was going to, I just… hadn’t found the right time to… or I don’t know, I hadn’t felt like I’d had enough time to think it through… it was just a silly thought and I didn’t know if it was right or… I don’t know, I was going to wait until after summer… I was thinking maybe if we made enough money during peak season I could… you know actually be employed by the centre to help you out, but I don’t know if you’ll want me around if I’m asking for a wage,” Bilbo chuckled weakly. “It was only an idea. I mean, it’s silly.”  

“Bilbo, you’re being ridiculous,” Thorin chuckled and Bilbo’s stomach dropped in terror for a moment. “Of course I’d still want you around after summer. I want the centre to make enough to at least pay you back. I would really like for you to stay on with the centre past the summer. You’d be more than welcome.”

“I just haven’t said anything just yet because I just don’t feel like I’ve had the chance to think it through properly yet as well as the… issue with Erebor’s funds. It’s only been two months and I don’t know if that’s enough time for me to… think about these things properly. I mean, I’d have to sell my family home.”

“Bilbo…” Thorin sighed.

“I’ve… been in contact with one of my cousins who is interested in buying it for her family. It makes sense. It’s a large house and it would be silly for me to go back and live in that big house by myself and she has a family that could actually use it. Besides… I… I think I’ve told you before that… you know, it’s painful to be there anymore after my mother passed,” Bilbo admitted quietly.

“But… it’s your home.” Thorin furrowed his brows.

“That’s… why I’m selling it to someone in the family. I can go visit when I want, but I don’t have to be subjected to the… the grief all the time,” Bilbo whispered, his voice cracking with emotion.

“Bilbo…” Thorin murmured.

“I-I’m sorry.” Bilbo brushed away a few tears that had begun to spill down his cheeks.

“There’s nothing to be sorry for, Bilbo,” Thorin assured him. He slowly pulled Bilbo into a comforting embrace. Bilbo let out a soft sob as he buried his face in Thorin’s chest. Thorin held onto Bilbo as he let a couple more sobs escape. He softly carded his fingers through Bilbo’s curls. Bilbo slowly loosened his grasp on Thorin, who slowly released him from the tight embrace.

“I’m–I’m so sorry, that was embarrassing,” Bilbo shakily breathed.

“Of course it wasn’t,” Thorin assured him softly.

“I just… I don’t… think I’ve fully processed that she’s… she’s gone,” Bilbo explained as a few more tears dripped down his cheeks.

“Hey, we still have a little while until our busy season _completely_ kicks in. You have plenty of time to think about… about it all. If you need any help at all, you know I’ll do whatever I can,” Thorin assured him. “And if you need to talk about anything… I’m here. You know I’m always up for takeaway and a cheap bottle of wine.”

That conjured a laugh from Bilbo as a few more tears fell down his cheeks.

“Thank you,” Bilbo softly sighed. “I honestly don’t know what came over me.” Bilbo shook his head. “It must have just been… talking to my aunt. She’s… she was my mother’s sister. I’ve been avoiding dealing with any family and just hearing her voice was…”

Thorin nodded and said nothing, comfortingly rubbing Bilbo’s back.

“I think I’m just going to go upstairs to bed,” Bilbo decided. “I’m going to look like a fool if I go back in the living room looking like this.” Bilbo gave a watery smile to Thorin.

“I understand,” Thorin nodded. “I’ll let the others know you weren’t feeling well.”

“Thank you.” Bilbo wrapped his arms around Thorin one last time before turning and hurrying upstairs. Thorin blinked unbelievingly in the dim hallway for a few moments trying to process what had just happened before he finally came back to reality and turning back to the living area. Thorin slipped into the room where the local news was still on low in the background as the others chatted excitedly.

“Bilbo still on the phone?” Bofur asked, questioningly.

“No, he’s headed to bed. He’s not feeling well,” Thorin explained quickly.

“That’s a shame,” Bofur frowned. “Hoping he’d stay up for the local news after-party,” Bofur joked.

“I hope he’ll be okay,” Bombur commented. “I’ll make him a nice big breakfast tomorrow. Unless his stomach is upset and in that case that may not be the best course of action.”

“I think he’d appreciate a nice breakfast,” Thorin assured the cook. Bombur nodded approvingly. “I think I’m probably going to head out too. I’m pretty tired,” Thorin decided. Much to Thorin’s surprise there wasn’t any teasing comment about leaving as soon as Bilbo decided to go to bed. He wondered if they could sense the gravity of the mood after their conversation and decided it wasn’t appropriate. Whatever the case, Thorin was glad.

He headed out, stuffing his hands into his pockets and hurrying back to the centre. Before turning and letting himself in, his gaze turned towards the lake to take in its serene peaceful look. His thoughts wandered, wondering what it would be like to have Bilbo there in Erebor full-time. He had already adjusted to having Bilbo around everyday and he had been dreading his eventual departure. However, he was worried about his co-worker. Selling off a family home filled with childhood memories was difficult, especially if he hadn’t fully processed his mother’s death. It sounded to Thorin like Bilbo needed to spend some time back at home with his family before coming to any conclusions.

He wanted Bilbo to find closure but he also hoped Bilbo would not leave him just as the summer season was kicking off. He needed Bilbo in Erebor, especially if it was going to be a promising season like they all believed.

Thorin decided he’d have to discuss these things with Bilbo. As the cold wind picked up again, Thorin turned towards the centre and headed inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE CHAPTER OF THE ELLIPSES. 
> 
> This was the chapter I realized this fic wasn't as fun and light-hearted as I had meant it to be with a touch of angst, but it makes it all the juicier ehuehe~
> 
> Thank you for everyone's continued patience! Sorry for the slow in pace with this fic, I've been putting a lot of time and energy into my other fic lately but hopefully I'll be able to pick up with this a little faster. 
> 
> As always you can find me on tumblr at [hobbitunderthemountain](http://hobbitunderthemountain.tumblr.com) and thank you so so much to my wonderful beta [Kate](http://anunexpectedjourney.tumblr.com) who continues to help me out tremendously.


	8. Chapter 8

When Bilbo didn’t show up by the time they were opening the next morning, Thorin was a little worried. He sat at the front desk and glanced at his phone to see if Bilbo had tried calling or texting him to say that he wouldn’t be coming into work, but so far there was nothing. 

When Thorin was thinking of texting Bilbo himself, the door opened to reveal a frenzied Bilbo. 

“Are you all right?” Thorin gave Bilbo a bewildered look. 

“Yeah! Yeah, yeah, yes. Sorry I’m so late,” Bilbo apologized. Thorin glanced at the clock, which only showed quarter after nine and Thorin gave an amused chuckle. “Bombur decided to make me a lavish breakfast this morning after hearing I wasn’t feeling well last night and well,” Bilbo nodded to the clock on the wall. 

“It’s all right, Bilbo,” Thorin chuckled. 

“Now, move over.” Bilbo shooed him from behind the desk. “I want to look at our Facebook page and website traffic.” 

“Yes, sir.” Thorin hastily moved aside, but hovered over Bilbo’s shoulder as he logged in. “How does it look?” Thorin asked impatiently.

“Hold on!” Bilbo called. “Oh,” Bilbo gasped as he pulled up the page.

“Is it bad?” Thorin asked hesitantly. 

“We’re up almost thirty likes overnight!” Bilbo exclaimed. 

“And is...that good?” Thorin asked, unsure. 

“Better than the five...or six we had, that’s for sure!” Bilbo laughed. “Okay, okay, now for the website.” 

Navigating through a few pages, Bilbo pulled up the website traffic displayed in a graph over the past month. There was a huge spike the night before and it seemed to only be climbing. 

“Oh, my God,” Bilbo grinned. “Look! We’re going to do this! We’re going to be busy this season!” Bilbo laughed. Thorin couldn’t help but grin at Bilbo’s excitement. “I can’t believe this.” Bilbo turned back to the computer. “I can’t believe that stupid video is responsible for all of this.” 

“You’re the one responsible for this,” Thorin chuckled with a warm smile. Bilbo looked up and blushed. “It’s true,” Thorin leaned against the front desk. “None of this would be happening if it weren’t for you.” 

“Oh, stop,” Bilbo averted his gaze back to the computer. They were quiet for a little while as Thorin looked over Bilbo’s shoulder at the website. “Hey, do you think you could take me on one of your tours now that the one boat is good to go?” Bilbo asked as he turned away from the computer again. “I… I realized the other day I haven’t been on one of your tours. I-I mean I was on one when I was young but I haven’t been on one of  _ yours _ yet, you see.”

“That’d be a good test run before business picks up,” Thorin agreed. “We’ll wait until Dwalin is in this afternoon so we don’t leave the place unwatched.” 

“Sounds good,” Bilbo smiled. 

“All right, I’m going out to work, give me a call over the radio if you need anything,” Thorin told him. “Let me know when Dwalin is here.”

“Will do,” Bilbo nodded. The rest of the day, Bilbo began to organize and clean up the centre. He wanted to do something new to the centre to get ready for the upcoming tourist season. As he was in the middle of moving a fixture in the centre, the phone rang. 

At first Bilbo wasn’t sure what the noise was and it startled him before he realized it was the centre’s phone. He scrambled over to the desk and picked up the phone. 

“Ah...Erebor’s visitor centre, how may I help you?” Bilbo answered. 

“Hi, are you taking reservations for tours?” the voice asked. 

“R-Reservations? Yes! Sure, yes! We are!” Bilbo scrambled to find a piece of paper and a pen to take down information. “When do you plan on visiting us?” 

The voice on the other end of the phone gave him the dates they were planning to be in Erebor and a name for the reservation. 

“Is it usually pretty busy during the summer?” the voice asked. Bilbo gave a small chuckle.

“To be honest with you, it’s my first summer here but we are expecting a busier-than-usual season,” Bilbo gladly boasted. It wasn’t a complete lie, more like a hopeful estimate. 

“Well we’re looking forward to coming up and spending the weekend there,” the woman on the other end of the phone told him.

“Thank you very much for your reservation,” Bilbo told her. As soon as he was off the phone he scrambled for the radio. 

“Thorin, come in, Thorin,” Bilbo called as he pushed the talk button. 

“What is it?” Thorin replied frantically. 

“We got a phonecall! A phone call about reservations! We’re taking reservations!” Bilbo exclaimed with a laugh. 

“Good God, you need to stop sounding like you’re fatally wounded when you talk to me over the radio,” Thorin’s staticky voice replied. “We’re taking reservations?”

“Yes! Yes, sorry,” Bilbo apologized over the radio. “Yes, someone just called to place reservations!” 

“We’re taking reservations,” Thorin repeated unbelievingly. “I don’t think we’ve taken a reservation in decades.” 

“If this isn’t a sign that we’re going to do amazing business this year, I don’t know what is,” Bilbo grinned excitedly. 

“Don’t get ahead of yourself just yet,” Thorin reminded him. 

“I know, I know,” Bilbo replied. 

The rest of the morning passed and there weren’t any more phone calls, but Bilbo kept an eye on the website and Facebook page. It seemed as if the traffic was slowing down a bit but he was still amazed at how much attention the news interview had boosted their business. 

As the sun continued to rise and morning passed into afternoon, Thorin came in to stop for his lunch break with Dwalin trailing in behind him. Bilbo smiled and offered a hello to Dwalin.

“So I hear we’re taking reservations?” Dwalin asked, raising his eyebrows. 

“Can you believe it?” Bilbo grinned. “That’s a good sign, don’t you think?”

“Aye,” Dwalin smiled. “I’d say that’s as good a sign as any.” 

They fixed themselves lunch and after they cleaned up, Thorin agreed to take Bilbo out on the boats. 

“Dwalin said he’ll stay here and watch the centre,” Thorin explained. “So we can go do your ‘opening tour of the season.’”

“Oh, excellent. Thank you, Dwalin,” Bilbo nodded to the man.

“Go have your fun,” Dwalin shrugged as he sat down in the office chair behind the desk and reclined. “I think I’ll take a nice nap.”

“Try to stay somewhat lucid in case anyone comes in. Radio us if you need anything,” Thorin reminded him. Dwalin hummed in acknowledgment and Thorin looked to Bilbo before motioning for him to follow Thorin out to the docks. 

“Oh, this is so exciting,” Bilbo smiled as Thorin helped steady Bilbo as he got onto the boat. 

“Still nervous?” Thorin asked as he handed Bilbo his life vest. 

“A little. It helps that we don’t have that monstrosity onboard,” Bilbo shrugged as they settled in their seats and Thorin started the engine. “Just don’t do anything too crazy and I’ll be okay.” 

They pulled away from the pier a little faster than necessary and Bilbo shot a glare over to Thorin who caught his gaze and grinned before slowed down a little. They sped further and further away from land and Bilbo enjoyed the breeze on his face. 

Thorin seemed to be showing off as they reached the middle of the lake and he took a few sharp turns. 

“I said nothing too crazy!” Bilbo cried over the roar of the engine and the sound of the water. 

Thorin barked in laughter as he slowed down and eventually came to a complete stop. 

“Thank you,” Bilbo sighed and his white knuckled grip on this life vest loosened a little. “Now what?”

“Now, I think it’s your turn,” Thorin got up from the driver’s seat. 

“Wh-What?” Bilbo stuttered. “Oh, no.” 

“I think it’d be a good idea to have you know how to drive one of the boats,” Thorin told him. 

“I don’t think I need to learn how to drive this boat at all,” Bilbo protested. “We only have one boat running this season and you’ll be doing tours. If you aren’t available for a tour for whatever reason it’ll be Dwalin or...does your sister know how to drive the boats?” Bilbo babbled. 

“Yes, she knows enough. You don’t have to if you don’t want to. I just thought maybe you’d like a chance to at least try it out. It is your money that went into repairing this boat,” Thorin explained. 

“I suppose it’d be good to know a little.” Bilbo anxiously looked over at the controls on the dashboard. 

“Come on.” Thorin patted the seat he now stood behind. Bilbo hesitantly sidled into the seat, shrinking back as if he were afraid the boat was going to lurch into motion with a new driver sitting in the seat. 

“Turn the key to turn on the engine,” Thorin instructed. He slowly walked Bilbo through the process of starting up the boat and everything he needed to remember before getting the boat in motion. 

“All right, now you’re going to push gently on the throttle just there,” Thorin instructed. Bilbo reached out and pushed forward as lightly as he could. 

“Sometimes it’s a little stuck,” Thorin told him. “You have to push it harder than that.” 

Bilbo put a little more force into it and the boat lurched forward before Bilbo pulled back and the boat came to a stop as it slowly glided forward from the thrust. 

“No,” Bilbo declared. “Absolutely not. I can’t do this.” Bilbo took his hand off the throttle. 

“Don’t be silly,” Thorin chuckled. “You were doing fine. One more time, a little gentler.” 

Bilbo sighed and steeled himself before reaching out one more time. Lightly pushing forward, the boat began to sputter along and finally transitioned into a slow speed along the surface. 

“Oh, God, Thorin!” Bilbo cried, squeezing his eyes shut. “I’m going to crash it!”

“Of course you are if you drive with your eyes closed,” Thorin laughed, resting his hand on Bilbo’s hand, which was still clutching the throttle, to try to steady him. “I’m not going to let you crash. We’re in the middle of the lake, you’re fine,” Thorin tried to reassure Bilbo. “Gently push forward a little more,” Thorin told him as his hand guided Bilbo’s and the boat continued to glide forward. “Okay, now steer the boat to the left a little. There we go.” They cruised along at a decent speed for a little while as Thorin plied Bilbo with reassurances that he was doing well. 

“All right.” Bilbo pulled back on the throttle and bringing the boat to a stop. “I’m done with the driving lessons for today. Can I have my tour now?” Bilbo asked as he stood up. The boat was still rocking considerably after coming to an abrupt stop and Bilbo nearly fell straight into Thorin as he tried to step away from the driver’s seat. 

Thorin held him steady as Bilbo regained his footing. 

“Still need to gain your sea legs, I see,” Thorin chuckled. “Are you all right?” Thorin asked. 

“Yes, fine.” Bilbo avoided Thorin’s eyes. He quickly made for the passenger seat and motioned to the driver's seat beside him. “Let’s have that tour then.” 

“Actually, can we talk?” Thorin asked hesitantly as he took his spot back in the driver’s seat. Bilbo slowly lowered himself into the passenger seat and frowned, looking over at Thorin questioningly. 

“Of course. What is it, Thorin?” Bilbo crossed his arms, nervously. 

“It’s about last night,” Thorin explained. Bilbo looked confused and he shrugged before he had a dawning realization as he suddenly remembered what Thorin must have been talking about: his breakdown. 

“What is there to talk about?” Bilbo asked softly, sounding a little defensive. 

“We’re getting closer to the summer season and I need you here,” Thorin started.

“I know and I’m going to be here,” Bilbo nodded. 

“I need you here wholly. Physically and mentally,” Thorin continued. 

“I am here physically and mentally,” Bilbo retorted. “I’m fine. As long as I stay up here I’m fine.” 

“I don’t think that’s the case,” Thorin sighed. “I know if I were you, I’d be constantly… torn and thinking of home… you know, considering my options. I’ve… I’ve kind of gone through this before, deciding whether to give up a home or not.” 

“Frerin mentioned that he and Dís had asked you to move to Ered Luin with them after they’d settled into their lives there…” Bilbo started and Thorin nodded. 

“It was… emotionally exhausting trying to decide what to do. My mother had just died then too and…” Thorin trailed off. “It’s tiring and confusing and… and I know what it does to you mentally. I understand wanting to bury your head in the sand and try to avoid thinking about it, but it finds you no matter what and it eats you up until you’ve resolved to do  _ something. _ ” 

Bilbo remained quiet and nodded. 

“I know I’m not in any place to tell you what to do. But perhaps you’ll allow me to make a suggestion?” Thorin asked. Bilbo silently nodded, already knowing what Thorin was going to ‘suggest’. “You need to go home. Not forever. But you need to go home and talk to your family. Not over the phone. You need to see them, figure out what you’re going to do about your home. Take some time to work through some things so you can enjoy this summer and not have this decision hanging over your head.”

Bilbo pursed his lips and sighed. 

“Thorin, we are on the verge of the summer season. I can’t go now,” Bilbo argued softly. “I told you I can’t deal with this just yet. It’s too soon to make a decision.” 

“I’m not saying that you have to go,” Thorin shrugged. “I told you, it was merely a suggestion. I just think that spending some time there might help you figure it all out.” 

They were quiet as Bilbo took the time to think over Thorin’s suggestion. The silence was peaceful and being surrounded by the lake was idyllic. 

“I know I should,” Bilbo finally spoke. “I know that I need to. I don’t want to though.” Bilbo shook his head. “It’s… I’m… I’m scared to go back… but you’re right,” Bilbo admitted as he unfolded his arms across his chest and anxiously wrung his hands. Thorin reached out and placed a hand on Bilbo’s shoulder. “If I go, I have to go soon. I have to be back by the end of May at the latest. I mean, tours officially start next week, Thorin. I don’t know, I really don’t think I should go. I should be here.”

“Dwalin will help out,” Thorin insisted.

“That’s not right to put this on Dwalin,” Bilbo sighed. 

“He usually helps in the summer,” Thorin explained. “If you had decided to go home before this, it’s exactly what he’d be doing anyway. At least it’s what he’d be doing until my family comes in when the schools are out for summer. We usually don’t see that many people out here until then anyway. If you go, take as much time as you need,” Thorin told him reassuringly. Bilbo reached for Thorin’s hand and clasped it in his own as a silent thankful gesture.

**x**

“Something’s botherin’ you,” Bofur remarked at dinner. “Either that or you're still feeling ill from the other night. I hope Bombur’s cooking hasn’t caused you trouble.”

“Bombur’s cooking is fine,” Bilbo reassured them, with a small smile to Bombur. “It’s more than fine,” Bilbo complimented him. “I mean, it’s…” Bilbo trailed off. “I might go back to the Shire.”

“ _ What?” _ Bombur and Bofur exclaimed. 

“No!” Bilbo cried when he realized what the two brothers thought he meant. “No, I only mean for a little while,” Bilbo explained quickly. 

“Don’t scare us like that,” Bombur gave a sigh of relief. 

“I didn’t realize that would elicit such a reaction,” Bilbo remarked. “You’d really miss me that much if I left?” Bilbo asked. 

“Of course we would,” Bofur insisted. “How long will you be gone? It’s nearly summer...in fact, the boat tours are practically started, aren’t they?” 

“I know,” Bilbo muttered. “That’s what’s been...preoccupying my mind. I do think I should take Thorin’s advice and return to the Shire for a bit, but I don’t think it’s a good time to leave.” 

“Thorin told you to go?” Bofur questioned. “I figure he’d be the last one supporting that with the summer season upon us.” 

Bilbo gave a soft sigh and a small smile. 

“He’s still worried…” Bilbo explained. 

“Well, can’t say it’d be a bad idea. Don’t want something loomin’ over you the whole summer. Anyway, if you need a ride to the train station, I’d be happy to take you,” Bofur offered. “I don’t think Thorin would be able to fit your luggage on the back of his bike.” 

“Thanks,” Bilbo nodded. “I’ll let you know when I make a decision.”

**x**

Within three days Bilbo had packed his things and bought a train ticket home. Bilbo figured if he was going to go, he should go before things got too busy. He spent his last evening in Erebor eating dinner at the bed and breakfast with Bofur, Bifur, and Bombur, as well as Thorin. 

“Hey, I’ll come to see you off tomorrow morning,” Thorin promised before heading back to the centre for the evening. Bilbo had walked him out to the front porch for a moment of privacy away from the family. 

“You don’t have to do that,” Bilbo blushed. “I mean, this dinner was kind of...in order to see me off, wasn’t it?” Bilbo shrugged. 

“I’d still like to come by, if it’s all right with you,” Thorin insisted. “It’s...going to be a while until I see you again, so…” 

“Yeah...yeah, ‘course I’m all right with that,” Bilbo smiled. “I keep telling you though...I’m only going to be gone for a week. Two at the most.” 

Thorin hummed with a small nod. 

“I wish you could go with me,” Bilbo sighed softly. “I only mean, it would be nice to have company is all…”

“I wish I could too,” Thorin admitted. “But then that  _ really _ wouldn’t be fair to Dwalin,” he chuckled. 

“No, it wouldn’t,” Bilbo agreed with a smile. 

“Well, erm. It’s getting late and you probably want to rest for tomorrow,” Thorin said. Bilbo nodded with a quiet sigh. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” 

**x**

The next morning was rainy and cold as Bilbo looked out the window. The last thing to pack was his laptop, which he had open and was putting the finishing details on an email to his cousins.

**Visiting** ****  
**Bilbo <bbaggins22@gmail.me>** **  
** **To:** Dora, Lobelia, Primula, Adalgrim, Falco, Fortinbras, Odo …

_ Hello all,  _

_ If you don’t know by now I’ve been on extended holiday up in Erebor since my mother’s passing. I’ll be coming back into town tonight (May 1st) and staying for a week or two to settle some things before returning to Erebor for the summer. I hope to see a few of you and your families before I leave again. _

_ Best Regards, _ _   
_ _ Bilbo _

Deciding that was good enough, he hit the send button and packed his laptop away. 

“Almost ready to go?” Bofur called as he knocked on the door. “Thorin’s here to see you off. I didn’t realize he’d be here this morning too...” He heard the innkeeper babble to himself behind the door. 

“I’ll be out in a moment,” Bilbo replied. He sighed as he heard Bofur head back downstairs and Bilbo did one last check to make sure he had everything he needed. He hadn’t packed everything, as Bofur had assured him his room would still be his when he returned. Finally, Bilbo shouldered a bag and pulled his suitcase off of the bed. 

Thorin and Bofur both relieved Bilbo of his luggage as he lumbered down the stairs. They each took a bag and loaded his luggage into the back of Bofur’s car as Bilbo followed them out into the grey, wet morning. Bofur went and got in the driver’s seat, allowing Bilbo and Thorin a moment of privacy as Thorin finished securing the luggage in the back of the car.

“You really didn’t have to see me off this morning,” Bilbo huffed as he pulled his coat closer around him. 

“Of course, I did.” Thorin argued. “I don’t know when I’m going to see you again.”

“Stop being so melodramatic,” Bilbo rolled his eyes. “I’ll be back in a week or two, I promise.” 

“That’s what you told your family when you first came here.” Thorin raised his eyebrows. 

“Come on, now we’re getting soaked. I’ll see you soon,” Bilbo promised. Thorin leaned down and wrapped his arms around Bilbo, holding him in a warm embrace for what felt like an eternity. Bilbo could feel Thorin’s warm hands on his back and neither of them seemed to want to be the first person to let go. 

“I’m going to be drenched the entire way back to the Shire,” Bilbo murmured and with that Thorin reluctantly let go. “I’m going to come back. Don’t act as if this is goodbye forever. Peak season can’t start without me.” 

“You are absolutely right,” Thorin nodded. “Safe travels.”

“Thank you.” Bilbo squeezed Thorin’s hand reassuringly. When Bilbo got into the car, Bofur looked over and raised his eyebrows at Bilbo. 

“That was quite the hug, huh?” Bofur commented with a smug smile. 

“Just drive, please,” Bilbo sighed. 

**x**

Just as it had been raining in Erebor, it was raining when he returned to the Shire. The weather matched Bilbo’s mood. His neighbor Hamfast was there to pick him up at the station. Hamfast greeted him and asked about his trip but Bilbo wasn’t sure what to say. The last time he had properly talked to his neighbor, he had told him he’d be gone for three weeks tops and then he was coming straight home. 

“Good,” Bilbo was only able to muster. “It was good.”

“It must be hard for you to come back,” Hamfast sympathized softly. “It sounded like you were having a lovely time.” 

“It needed to be done. I couldn’t hide up there forever, could I?” Bilbo shrugged with a half-hearted smile. He hadn’t exactly told Hamfast he was thinking of moving away from the Shire permanently and that this was only a short trip back to try to begin making arrangements. There’d be time for that another day when he wasn’t so tired. 

The rain fell steadily and pattered against Hamfast’s car as they got closer and closer to home. Bilbo thanked his neighbor before quickly unloading his bags and hurrying up to the front door of Bag-End, urgently trying to get out of the rain. 

Pushing the door open, he dropped his luggage at the front door and slowly staggered inside. He could see the house plants were all still alive thanks to Hamfast and the place was the same organized chaos as he’d left it. Giving a ragged sigh he turned on the lights and put on his kettle to make himself tea to try to warm up from the pressing cold rain from outside. It felt bizarre and foreign to be back in this home.

Sitting down on the sofa in the living room, Bilbo set his tea down to wait for it to cool and pulled out his phone in the meantime. 

Bilbo clasped his phone in his hand before finally unlocking the phone, searching for Thorin in his contacts list, and hovering his finger over Thorin’s name. He sighed and closed the phone, putting it down. Instead, he got out his laptop and checked his email to see if he’d gotten any responses to the email he had sent that morning.

He had several new emails when he logged on. The first one was from Primula explaining that they were sad to inform Bilbo that they’d be away on vacation all week. Her email read, “Drogo and I are sad to miss you! We’re away for one last vacation before the baby! Hoping to see you when you get back after the summer!” 

Bilbo frowned wondering when he would be back again to see them. He typed out a quick response to her private reply to finally congratulate her on the baby and to wish them a good time on their vacation. 

He glanced at Odo and Adalgrim’s responses which both sounded sincerely interested in a gathering of some kind. Bilbo couldn’t muster the thought process of planning a large social event at the moment and moved on to the last email he’d gotten, which was from Lobelia. It had been a private reply, like Primula’s email.

**RE: Visiting** ****  
**Lobelia <lobelia.sb.18@gmail.me>** **  
** To me

_ Bilbo, I’m pleased you’ve decided to come home, if only for a bit. Maybe some sleep in your own bed will be good for you. I’ll be available tomorrow, May 2nd, for lunch. You choose the place and time. We can discuss the house, as I sense it is a primary factor in your visit even though you declined to address it specifically in your email to your cousins.  _

_ See you then, _ _   
_ _ Lobelia _

Bilbo sighed and typed out a quick response to let her know he’d be happy to have lunch with her at the Green Dragon for lunch tomorrow at one o’clock. He didn’t address the house or any of her other comments. After that he shut his laptop and laid back on the sofa, shutting his eyes for a moment. His mind began to race thinking of everything he’d have to take care of before selling the place, but he couldn’t work up the energy or the motivation to get up and do anything. He decided to take a nap and figure things out once he was feeling a little better. Bilbo had only meant to sleep for an hour at the most, but when he woke up again the house was completely dark. He groaned and sat up and reached blindly for his phone to check the time. 

As he unlocked the phone he saw he had two missed calls and a text message. The two calls were from Lobelia and the text was from Thorin. Bilbo ignored the calls for the time being and opened up the text. 

**Thorin** **  
** _ Did you get home ok? Call me. _

Bilbo quickly tapped on Thorin’s contact info and sleepily hit the ‘dial’ button. He probably shouldn’t have put off the call he was going to make. As the phone rang several times Bilbo realized he had no idea what time it was. It could have been early evening or it may have very well been midnight. Either way, the time difference between the Shire and Erebor was several hours and he knew Thorin would most likely be asleep no matter what the time. He was about to hang up when he realized it was hopeless, but eventually Thorin answered the phone and a sleepy voice greeted him. 

“Bilbo?” Thorin questioned softly. “Are you okay? How was your trip? Are you in the Shire?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize what time it was. Did I wake you?” Bilbo asked.  _ That was a stupid question, of course I did, _ Bilbo chastised himself.

“No, no, it’s–you’re fine,” Thorin assured him. “I was just worried when I didn’t hear from you. Sounds like you just woke up...is it already morning there?”

“No, no,” Bilbo chuckled. “I just woke up from an impromptu nap.”

“Oh,” Thorin sighed. “Everything okay?”

“Yes,” Bilbo sighed. “I mean I got home safely, if that’s what you mean.” 

“Are you doing all right, though?” Thorin asked, knowingly. 

“Could be better,” Bilbo replied shortly.  

“Yeah,” Thorin responded quietly. 

They were quiet for a moment, both of them listening to the quiet breathing of the other over the line. It was comforting to have Thorin so close even though they were so very far away at the moment. 

“Anyway, I’m sorry for bothering you, and waking you up...” Bilbo hastily told him when he realized the silence was beginning to get too long.

“Never,” Thorin replied. “I mean, I told you to call. It was nice to hear your voice. It feels weird that you’re not in Erebor.”

Bilbo’s stomach churned a little at Thorin’s words. It was nice to know that he wasn’t the only one finding the other’s voice like a soothing balm. 

“Yeah, it feels weird to be gone,” Bilbo muttered. 

“What’s on the agenda tomorrow?” Thorin asked conversationally, even though Bilbo knew he must be exhausted after being woken up by the phone call. 

“Lunch with my cousin’s wife, Lobelia. Probably to talk about the house,” Bilbo shrugged sleepily to himself. 

“Keep me posted on how that goes,” Thorin requested. 

“Yeah, ‘course,” Bilbo nodded.  “Hey, uh...I’ll let you get your sleep,” Bilbo told him. “I’ll talk to you later, all right?”

“Call me whenever you need,” Thorin told him. 

“Yeah,” Bilbo agreed sleepily. “Good night...or morning...whatever it is.”

Thorin laughed softly. 

“Good night, Bilbo.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [flexes fingers and cracks knuckles] :D 
> 
> SOME AFTERMATH TO LAST CHAPTER'S ANGST. IT'LL BE FINE. 
> 
> A speedy update to make up for the long wait last time. Hope y'all enjoyed ;DD 
> 
> Find [me on tumblr](http://hobbitunderthemountain.tumblr.com) and shoutout to my [beautiful wonderful beta, Kate](http://anunexpectedjourney.tumblr.com)~


	9. Chapter 9

The next day Bilbo went to lunch with Lobelia to talk things through with her. Lobelia picked Bilbo up and they made small talk on the way to the pub.

“So before we even talk about what should be done with the house, tell me what you’ve been doing for the past couple months in Erebor,” Lobelia started after they had been seated and they’d ordered their food. 

“I mean, I’ve kind of told you everything the few times we’ve talked over the phone.” Bilbo shrugged. “Just...working, and getting ready for the summer season.”

“Yes, you’ve told me that. There must be something else keeping you up there,” Lobelia pressed. “It’s such a small town and looks a tad drab from the pictures I’ve seen, no offense,” Lobelia continued. Bilbo suppressed the small bubble of anger pushing its way up his throat. 

“It’s not much,” Bilbo admitted to satisfy her. “But it’s quaint. I like the people there.” 

“As opposed to your family here in Hobbiton?” Lobelia raised her eyebrows.

“No, you know it isn’t that.” Bilbo gave an exasperated sigh. 

“All right, so tell me about these people,” Lobelia urged. 

“Well,” Bilbo swallowed thickly. He started off telling Lobelia about the family at the bed and breakfast and Dwalin who helped at the center, and soon Bilbo realized there weren’t many other people to talk about save Thorin. The moment he brought up Thorin he could feel his face begin to burn. 

“Th-Then there’s… y’know, Thorin. H-He’s, erm, the one I spend the most time with. I mean since he owns the centre,” Bilbo continued. “He’s been really grateful to have me. He’s the one who suggested I take the trip back before committing myself to the whole summer up there to figure out what I’m going to do. At first, he seems very stoic and standoffish but he’s really thoughtful and quite nice once you get past the, erm, scowling and y’know…” Bilbo trailed off, willing his face to return to a normal color. 

“Going by the brilliant shade of pink you’re turning right now, there’s more to it than ‘quite nice,’” Lobelia observed cooly. 

“I-I-I don’t know what you mean,” Bilbo sputtered. 

“Oh, look, you’re going red now,” Lobelia smiled wickedly. “Please do go on about this Thorin. I want to know everything.” 

“Lobelia! It’s not like that,” Bilbo vehemently denied. He knew this trip was a bad idea. Not even a full twenty-four hours back and Lobelia’s grilling him about Thorin as if they were both a couple of hormonal teenagers talking about their first crush.  

“Is Thorin attractive?” Lobelia continued to press Bilbo.

“I don’t know, I suppose he is.  _ You know _ I don’t really  _ do _ that kind of thing,” Bilbo muttered. 

“Yes, yes, I know,” Lobelia gave a defeated sigh. 

Lobelia, being the nosy in-law she was, had, the second year she was married to Otho, cornered Bilbo and pestered him about a spouse at a Christmas dinner with the Bagginses. In a fit of exasperation with her nosiness, Bilbo had explained to her that he wasn’t very interested pursuing a relationship of any kind and he was perfectly fine with that. 

He hadn’t let many people on to the fact that he was this way, let alone his extended family. Bilbo had figured that most of them had just written him off as their odd cousin, the eccentric bachelor. He never had the desire to sit any of his extended family down and explain any of his sexual preferences—or lack thereof—to anyone, let alone the Bagginses. It was much too lewd of a conversation topic for a holiday family dinner and besides, it was none of their business anyway.

But here was Lobelia, the meddlesome in-law, knowing more about Bilbo’s most personal affairs than his own blood relatives. However, since that dinner she’d become something of an ally: a friend and a nuisance wrapped into one. Though he hated to admit, her straightforward, nosy, blunt attitude had begun to grow on Bilbo. When she wasn’t pressing him for uncomfortable answers to uncomfortable questions, he actually liked her quite a bit because of her no-nonsense attitude. 

She had never called him strange for not wanting a relationship or told him to seek help because he was ‘broken.’ That much Bilbo could appreciate. However, now she was so insistent on discovering every feeling Bilbo held for Thorin during their interrogation-slash-lunch, and  _ that, _ Bilbo wasn’t too pleased with. 

“Anyway,” Lobelia sighed during a lull in their conversation. “I’m just glad you’ve found someone. Even  _ you _ must admit, some companionship is nice. It’s good to have  _ someone  _ to spend time with after your mother’s death. I mean, considering the fact that you seem determined to push all your family away now that your mother has passed.” 

Bilbo rolled his eyes. 

“So, do you have any photos of him?” Lobelia asked before Bilbo could retort to her passive-aggressive comment. Bilbo frowned. “I’m just curious, please, Bilbo.” 

“No, I don’t,” Bilbo shrugged. “I apologize for not stopping Thorin before I left to ask for a photo. ‘I’m sorry, Thorin, my cousin Lobelia will probably want a picture of you to gauge how conventionally attractive you are. May I snap a quick photo of you to show around to everyone?’”

Lobelia snorted.  

“Oh, I suppose you have a point,” Lobelia gave a defeated sigh. “So have you started looking for a place up there? I can’t imagine there’s a booming real estate market in Erebor.” 

“No, there isn’t,” Bilbo gave a relieved smile that they were moving away from the topic of Thorin. “I’ve done a few quick searches but there isn’t much. I’m hoping to keep my eye out over the summer and hopefully something that will do nicely will pop up.” 

“You’re really sure you want to move up there, hm?” Lobelia asked. 

“I don’t know,” Bilbo groaned. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out. Every time I think about selling the house I feel terrible. But all I can see is being bored and unhappy if I decide to come back after the summer. In Erebor, I’m… I feel like I can be useful… I have a purpose and it’s fun and I like it. I really don’t want to leave that,” Bilbo explained. 

“You wouldn’t want to leave Thorin either, I suppose,” Lobelia commented nonchalantly. 

“Yes, well… I mean, Thorin’s my  _ friend  _ and he’s come to depend on my help, so my moving up there is r-really…”

“Bilbo, friends are people you can call up on the phone and chat with every month or so and maybe go to lunch every now and again when time allows and be perfectly content that way. Friends aren’t people who make you consider uprooting your entire life to spend the rest of it with them,” Lobelia told him softly. 

“Lobelia, that’s enough. This decision is not just about Thorin,” Bilbo protested. He really did not want to base this decision on something like that. Bilbo knew he had to completely detach Thorin and...whatever feelings he might have for the man and make his decision to move based on everything and anything else.

“If you’ve forgotten, I’ve been fascinated with the lake and Smaug since Mum and Dad took me up there when I was young,” Bilbo continued. “Working there has been a dream and one that I’d like to continue. It’s merely an added bonus that I actually get along with the man who runs it, considering last time I was up there for research he was quite rude and refused to talk to me. It’s just… become an option and one I’d like to pursue for my own personal interests. Not because I’m chasing some wild idea of romance, I assure you. I thought you knew me well enough to figure that much out.” 

“People change all the time,” Lobelia shrugged. 

Bilbo gave her a pointed look. 

“All right, I’m done, I promise,” Lobelia sighed, giving in. “So it’s about Erebor. Look, Bilbo, it’s your life I’m not going to tell you what to do with it. To be honest with you, I love your family’s house. I always have, you know. I’m the last person who wants to talk you out of this. Otho and I have already talked to the bank and we’re prepared to offer whatever you’d ask for the house...within reason of course,” Lobelia explained. 

“Y-You have?” Bilbo asked. 

“Well, we assumed you were serious when you made the offer. By the sounds of it, you are quite serious, aren’t you?” Lobelia questioned. “You said Thorin suggested you take this trip in order to sort everything out, right?”

“Yes, yes…” Bilbo nodded. “I’m just worried about… well, if the centre still flops this summer after all we’ve done and we don’t make the money we need to keep the place open, let alone actually hire me on… then what? Do I still live there permanently even though I’ve entangled myself with a failing business?” Bilbo asked desperately. “I really feel as if this decision should wait until after summer at the least.” 

“What’s the worst case scenario, Bilbo? You sell your family’s home to us and buy a small place up there for a fraction of the price of your family’s home. The centre doesn’t do great. You’ll still have funds from your inheritance, the royalties from your mother’s books  _ and _ the sale of the house. Budget it smartly and continue to help the centre the best you can, right? At least until the centre actually gets rolling?” Lobelia asked.

“Worst case scenario is this summer tanks and Thorin no longer has the money to keep the place open. He’ll have to sell it. Then what? I’ve sold my home to you and I’m no longer of any use in Erebor,” Bilbo explained. “Even if I continued to funnel my inheritance and money from the house sale into it… it’s still a failing business at the end of the day and I’d end up penniless.” 

“Something tells me you would figure something out before it came to that,” Lobelia furtively suggested.

“It’s not for certain.” Bilbo shook his head. 

“Besides, I still think it still sounds as if you and Thorin have things you need to discuss before making a decision like this,” Lobelia suggested lightly. Bilbo could take the underlying implication about his and Thorin’s relationship and he refused to say anything more about Thorin. 

They talked a little more about the state of the business as well as the probability of that summer’s success. 

“Listen,” Lobelia finally sighed as she set down her drink. “It sounds pretty likely that the place will stay open past this summer, but it’s good that you’re being careful. It gives you a little more time to think about it and make sure that you’re positive you want to do this. We can hold off on the sale of the house until you feel safe to sell.”

“Oh, I haven’t decided anything,” Bilbo sighed miserably. “This trip was a complete waste.”

“Don’t say that. You have made a decision,” Lobelia protested. “You’ve made a decision that you’ll wait to see how you do over the summer. If you do well, you’ll sell. If you don’t, you’ll come home. There’s your decision.”

“I suppose,” Bilbo shrugged. 

“And take some time to see some of your other family before you run back to Erebor,” Lobelia suggested. “I noticed you hadn’t replied to any of the emails the others sent. Unless of course you replied to them each privately.” When Bilbo said nothing, Lobelia continued. “I know you’re eager to get back to Thorin— _ excuse me _ —I mean, Erebor,” Lobelia continued with a knowing smile. “But take some time to breathe before rushing back, okay? If nothing else, start to organize things at the house maybe? It’ll make things easier if you do decide to move and live up there.” 

“I know,” Bilbo sighed. “Thanks, Lobelia.” 

Bilbo spent the rest of their meal listening to Lobelia talk about her son Lotho and menial things that had happened in the past few months. It was nice to distract himself with whatever drama was going on with Lobelia. But by the end of their lunch, Bilbo was exhausted from listening to Lobelia moan about the ongoing argument she had with the Parent-Teacher committee at Lotho’s school. He couldn’t see how there could already be this much drama in a kindergarten classroom, but somehow Lobelia found it. 

He was glad to have the distraction, but his mind still buzzing, thinking about the upcoming summer and what it would bring. 

Eventually, they finished their meal and soon they were heading back home. Lobelia offered to help with planning a gathering if Bilbo managed to get ahold of enough cousins before he left. Bilbo thanked her for her offer and gave no real response before bidding her goodbye. 

As Bilbo closed the front door behind him, he pulled out his phone and decided to give Thorin a call, checking his watch to determine what time it would be in Erebor. He figured the centre was probably getting ready to close for the night and hopefully Thorin would have his phone on him. His heart rate nearly doubled as he selected Thorin in his contacts list and hit the ‘call’ button. His heart pounded as he replayed the conversation he’d had with Lobelia in his mind as the phone rang. A warm feeling blossomed in his chest when Thorin answered the phone. 

“Hello, Bilbo,” Thorin greeted him affectionately. Bilbo smiled broadly. 

“Hey,” Bilbo replied shortly. “I, erm, just got back from lunch. How are things going there?” 

“Actually have some good news,” Thorin proudly told him.

“Yes?” Bilbo asked. 

“We had our first official boat tour of the season today,” Thorin explained. 

“Really?” Bilbo grinned. Part of him wished he had been there to celebrate the monumental occasion. 

“We’ll celebrate when you get back, I assure you,” Thorin continued, as if he were reading Bilbo’s mind. “Anyway, the family that stopped by was fairly local. Saw that you had posted up on the website or the Facebook thing that tours started yesterday!” Thorin continued. 

“Oh, that’s great. I can’t believe it’s actually working.” Bilbo breathed a sigh of relief. This good news certainly brightened Bilbo’s mood after the disastrous lunch he’d just had. “Have we had any more phone calls? How is the website traffic?” Bilbo asked. 

“Erm...we had one or two calls asking about tours today, yeah,” Thorin recounted. “Er, I don’t know about the website, I can go check.” 

“No, don’t worry about it,” Bilbo assured him. “I’m just glad to hear it’s going well.”

“So, you finished lunch your cousin… how did that go?” Thorin asked. 

“It was like a torturous interrogation,” Bilbo sighed. “I was on trial for the past hour and a half.”

“What?” Thorin sounded upset by the news. “What was she asking? Shouldn’t she be trying to help you decide what to do, not… terrorize you?” Thorin questioned. 

“Just nonsense questions,” Bilbo replied vaguely. Most of the ‘interrogation’ included questions about Thorin and Bilbo wasn’t ready to try to explain that to Thorin. “That _ is  _ her version of helping. Being passive aggressive until she thinks I’ve got the point...” 

“You sure you really want to sell your house to this woman? Is there anyone else in the family who might be looking to move?” Thorin asked.

“Are you kidding? Lobelia would be absolutely livid if I passed by her family. She’s had the eye on the house ever since she married Otho, I swear,” Bilbo explained. “Anyway, she told me she and Otho are prepared to offer whatever I ask for the house.”

“So you discussed what you’re going to do then?” Thorin asked nervously. 

“I think we decided I’d see how we do this summer,” Bilbo explained. “Make sure that it makes sense for me to move up there. I mean, if things absolutely flop…” Bilbo trailed off. 

“It’ll be fine, Bilbo. I know it will be,” Thorin assured him. “I don’t blame you for being cautious, though,” Thorin admitted. 

“Anyway, I feel like this was a waste of a trip. All I did was decide that I can’t decide for another four months at least.” Bilbo sighed. 

“That’s still a decision,” Thorin tried to assure him. “Doesn’t it feel a little nice to be back?”

“I don’t know,” Bilbo mumbled. “I guess. I still miss Erebor, though.” 

Thorin hummed thoughtfully. 

“Hey, you’d tell me if I was being a nuisance up there, wouldn’t you?” Bilbo asked. It wasn’t a very prominent thought, but it had crossed his mind a few times. Perhaps the suggestion to come home for a couple weeks was Thorin’s polite way of telling him to go home. Permanently. 

“A nuisance? What on earth makes you say that?” Thorin asked incredulously.

“I dunno,” Bilbo sighed. “Don’t let me act like a fool and sell my house to move up there if I’m only going to be underfoot.” 

“I don’t know how you don’t understand this already, but we’d be incredibly lucky to have you around year round… _I’d,_ ah, be incredibly lucky to have you around, anyway,” Thorin continued softly. “Don’t ever doubt that.”

“Thanks,” Bilbo smiled to himself, feeling a blush crawl up his neck. “I-I appreciate it.”

“What are your plans for the rest of the week? Have you decided when you’ll be back?” Thorin asked. 

“Already so impatient for my return?” Bilbo questioned teasingly, a small smile playing at his lips. 

“A little,” Thorin mumbled. 

“Well, I think Lobelia insisted I see some family before I leave so I might be here through the weekend,” Bilbo explained. “Maybe another week to begin to pack things up, in case I do decide to move. Anyway, trust me. After that lunch, I want nothing more than to be on a train back to Erebor. But I’ve got to… partake in the niceties.”  

“‘Partake in the niceties,’” Thorin chuckled. “Bilbo.” 

“What?” Bilbo smiled. “You wanted me to ‘partake in the niceties,’ insisting I come back here to talk to my family.” 

“I just want you to know you’re making the right decision,” Thorin explained. “That’s all.” 

“I’m an adult and you can trust I’ll make the right decision,” Bilbo sighed. “If anything, talking to my family is only solidifying that I want to be up there with you… I… you know, in Erebor. Not here.” 

Thorin was silent except for a soft sigh, as if he didn’t know what to say. 

“Was  _ that _ your plan?” Bilbo asked with a quiet chuckle. “Send me home to talk to my annoying relatives so I feel certain that moving to Erebor will be for the best?”

“No, Bilbo,” Thorin replied defensively. “I’m legitimately concerned and my advice is genuine.” 

“Well, thanks,” Bilbo sighed. 

“Anyway,” Thorin picked up the conversation, “I’m getting ready to head over to Bofur’s with Dwalin for dinner. Bofur’s already complaining about missing you and not having your company around. He does have some guests coming in tomorrow night, though.” 

“Really?” Bilbo asked. “Oh, that’s marvellous news.” Bilbo grinned. “Do you think he’ll have to rent out my room before I come back?” 

“I don’t think so,” Thorin replied. “I’ll let you know if he does. Did you leave anything in your room?” 

“Yeah, I still have a few of my things in there,” Bilbo explained. “I didn’t exactly feel like packing  _ everything _ when I knew I’d be back in a week or two. Pretty foolish of me with the start of summer season, to keep Bofur from renting out a room just because I wanted to leave some trousers and a couple of shirts in there.”

“I’ll… I’ll take care of your things if Bofur has to use the room,” Thorin assured him. 

“Thanks,” Bilbo muttered. “I’ll let you go. I don’t want you to be late to dinner.” 

“Thanks for calling and giving me an update,” Thorin said. 

“Yeah, uhm…” Bilbo searched for words. “I’ll… uh, talk to you tomorrow?” 

“I look forward to it,” Thorin replied. 

“O-Okay, yeah,” Bilbo nodded silently to himself. “Love y—ahh,” Bilbo caught himself. “I’ll… y-yeah, talk to you tomorrow,” Bilbo repeated, tripping over his words. His heart leapt into his throat. His conversation with Lobelia must have really shaken him.

“Good night… or good afternoon, I suppose,” Thorin chuckled, seemingly not caught up on Bilbo’s mistaken words. 

“Y-Yeah, bye.”

“Bye, Bilbo,” Thorin bid him goodbye before hanging up. Bilbo chuckled a little hysterically after making sure he had hung up. 

“Shit,” Bilbo sighed, rubbing a hand over his eyes.  _ Oh, Lobelia might be right,  _ Bilbo thought to himself.  _ This is going to be all about Thorin. _

He decided he’d try not to dwell on it too much and figured he’d take Lobelia’s advice to start cleaning and organizing things in case he did decide to sell the house at the end of the summer. It also wouldn’t hurt to have the place clean on the off chance he’d conduct some kind of gathering with his family that lived nearby.

As he worked, he came across several unorganized files and binders filled with notes from his mother. He smiled softly, looking at her hand scrawled notes in margins of her manuscripts. Bilbo didn’t remember his mother having any new projects in the works. 

She had been an author and had written a slew of cheap paperback fiction novels. Bilbo still remembered the book signings she’d do at his father’s bookshop whenever her newest book was released. 

It had been a while since Bilbo had read through one of his mother’s books. He used to always have one on him, but since she’d fallen ill, he no longer had the time or energy to read them. Since she had died, he hadn’t had the heart to pick one up. During his time in Erebor though, he’d regretted not packing any of her books and he missed them terribly. Before he got any further going through his mother’s things, he went to his mother’s room. He stood in front of her bookshelf and pulled a few of her personal copies of her books. They were warm and familiar in his hands and comfort swept through him just holding the books again. He was knew every crease and fold of his mother’s copies. 

Bilbo grabbed several of his favorites off the shelves and put them with the bags he was taking back to Erebor. 

Over the next few days he continued to pack and organize the things in the house. He even called his family to plan a small gathering for the weekend after next in order to give his family enough notice to attend and give himself a little extra time to pack before jumping on a train back to Erebor. He knew Lobelia was right about seeing family before he left, and he probably would have felt guilty for the rest of the summer if he didn’t see anyone besides Lobelia. 

Of course, Lobelia was beyond pleased to hear Bilbo was actually planning a get together and once again offered to help. Bilbo just told her to bring a tray of food or something. He didn’t want to have to cook too much, because he was afraid of too many leftovers that he’d have to figure out what to do with before he left again. 

“Don’t worry about anything, Bilbo,” Lobelia told him over the phone the day before the gathering. At least five other cousins and their families agreed. “I know you don’t need more to worry about so we’ll take care of making the food.” 

“Well, that’s certainly… magnanimous of you, but I’ve already bought most everything,” Bilbo explained. He’d walked down to the local supermarket the day before to buy all the food he’d need for all of his cousins. “I just told you to bring a tray of something. A potato salad, maybe,” Bilbo sighed.

“Well, yes, of course we’re already planning on that,” Lobelia assured him. “We can come over an hour or so early to help prepare the rest of the food.” 

“Oh,” Bilbo sighed. “Well, thank you, but you really don’t…” He didn’t need to entertain them for an extra hour than he already was. 

“Nonsense, Bilbo,” Lobelia protested. “It’s the least we could do. Besides, maybe I want to give that kitchen a test drive…” 

Bilbo rolled his eyes. They discussed a few more details about the event before Lobelia wrapped up their conversation by saying that she had to go pick up Lotho from a playdate.

“See you tomorrow,” Bilbo sighed and hung up the phone. 

**x**

The next day as Bilbo was finishing the last little bits of cleaning, his phone rang and he wondered if any of his cousins were calling to confirm the time. He was a little relieved when he saw it was Thorin calling. 

“Hello,” Bilbo answered the phone.

“I hope I’m not interrupting your little party,” Thorin greeted him apologetically. 

“No, no,” Bilbo shook his head. He glanced at the clock anxiously. If Lobelia and Otho arrived when they said they were, they’d be there within fifteen minutes. “Still have a little peace before the gathering gets underway.” 

“Your niceties,” Thorin chuckled. 

“My niceties, yes,” Bilbo smiled as he wrung a washrag with one hand and wiped down the kitchen countertops. “Anything exciting going on today?”

“Had another three tours. It’s a new record. Three whole tours in one day!” Thorin explained, excitedly. 

“Oh, I’m so happy to hear it. That’s great,” Bilbo grinned. 

“Erm, I actually called to ask if you’ve made a decision about when you were planning on coming home?” Thorin asked. “I mean, not your home, my home… when are you… Erebor, are you coming back soon?” Thorin stumbled over his words. 

“Purchased my tickets. I’ll be coming home this following Monday,” Bilbo told him.

“M-Monday?  _ This _ Monday?” Thorin asked.

“Is that all right?” Bilbo frowned. 

“Of course,” Thorin assured him. “I just didn’t realize it’d be that soon.”

“Well, apparently I like to keep people on their toes,” Bilbo explained with a chuckle. 

“Yes, you do,” Thorin agreed. “Monday, though. I’ll see if I can borrow Dwalin’s car, or Bofur’s, and I can come pick you up since the centre is closed.” 

“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” Bilbo sighed. He had the smallest inkling of hope that if he planned his return on a Monday, Thorin would volunteer to be the one to pick him up. 

“Bofur’s finally got guests for the weekend to keep him occupied and Dwalin probably wants to spend some actual time in his auto shop with the day off from the centre,” Thorin explained. “I’d be happy to come pick you up. Do you know what time your train gets in?” Thorin asked. 

“Uh, I know it’s some time in the late afternoon, I’ll check later and get you an exact time,” Bilbo told him. The doorbell rang. “Oh, sorry, that’s probably my guests,” Bilbo apologized. “I’ll talk to you later.” 

“Good luck, Bilbo,” Thorin bid him goodbye. 

“Yeah, thanks,” Bilbo nodded before hanging up. Bilbo went to the front door and greeted Lobelia, Otho, and Lotho.

“Hi, hello, come in.” Bilbo pulled the door open wider for them to enter his home.  

“Nice to finally see you again, cousin,” Otho shook Bilbo’s hand, “after galavanting away into the blue when Aunt Bella died.” 

Bilbo tried to work up a retort but didn’t have the energy to argue with his overbearing cousins.

“Yes, of course,” Bilbo gave a forced polite smile. Trailing behind the couple was their five year old son, Lotho. 

“So we’re going to be living here, huh,” Lotho stated matter of factly. 

“Hush, darling,” Lobelia nudged her five-year old son. “Uncle Bilbo hasn’t decided if he’s moving yet or not.” 

“Well, Uncle Bilbo, are you going to move or not?” Lotho asked, impatiently. 

“Lotho, what did your mother say?” Otho sighed exasperatedly. “Don’t pester Uncle Bilbo.” 

“It’s all right,” Bilbo gave a hesitant smile to the young boy. “It’s nice to see you too, Lotho.” 

“Where are your toys?” Lotho asked, ignoring Bilbo’s greeting and moving past him into the house.

“Bilbo doesn’t have any toys,” Lobelia scolded impatiently. “That’s why we brought your own. Lotho, take your bag and go sit somewhere. Your cousins will be over soon. All right, Bilbo where do you need us to start?” Lobelia offered with a smile. 

“I’ve got a few things left to prepare, I’ll show you what needs to be done.” Bilbo led Lobelia back to the kitchen. He’d purposefully left a few simple tasks for Lobelia to do, but he’d finished almost everything else beforehand. He’d rather just prepare all the food himself, but if Lobelia insisted on helping he’d have to let her do something. 

Otho hovered in the kitchen taking bites off of all the plates and trays as Lobelia and Bilbo finished up the preparations. Soon the doorbell was ringing again and Bilbo went to answer the door. Several groups of cousins stood and the door and Bilbo greeted them with a smile, all of them asking how he was doing. 

“Fine, I’m doing well,” Bilbo answered each of his cousins. He led them out to the garden where he intended to keep most of his family corralled during their gathering. The garden had actually been in the best shape out of anything in the home. It seems Hamfast took it upon himself to keep the garden up and Bilbo was grateful. It provided a perfect place to host his gathering without having to worry too much about the state of the entire house. 

Bilbo was finally able to satisfy his family’s questions about what he’d been doing since the passing of his mother. 

“He’s thinking about moving up there, you know,” Lobelia announced as she set down a second tray filled with vegetables to snack on. 

“What?” Dora exclaimed. “I thought this was just… an… an extended vacation of sorts. No one said anything about moving!”

Bilbo’s stomach clenched unpleasantly. _ He wasn’t meaning to tell anyone just yet! _ Why had Lobelia felt like it was her place to tell everyone?

“Well, I’m not sure yet,” Bilbo muttered. “Nothing’s been decided. But yes, I’m considering it.”

His cousins began clamoring for answers and asking more questions about what he was doing in Erebor. Bilbo tried to answer them best he could, but eventually he was overwhelmed by the sudden prodding to tell all of his cousins his exact life plans, when he honestly had no clue about them himself. 

When it began to get too much, Bilbo retreated back into the kitchen under the guise of preparing more food. It was a little quieter in the kitchen, away from the garden full of people. He began cutting up some more vegetables to put on another tray and tried to focus on that. There was still plenty out there, but he had noticed the first tray was becoming a little bare and his family would likely be going through the second one Lobelia had just put out. Come to think of it, there hadn’t been any cucumbers on that tray and Bilbo had to remedy that immediately.

It wasn’t long before he heard the door to the garden open and close. Bilbo cast a quick glance over his shoulder to find Lobelia bringing in the first somewhat empty tray. He chose to ignore her and continue his task. He waited for an apology from her but it never came. 

“At least everyone seems pretty excited about you moving to Erebor, despite their initial shock,” Lobelia broke the silence. Bilbo only gave her a quiet hum to acknowledge he’d heard her. When it seemed as if Bilbo wouldn’t offer anything more than that Lobelia continued.

“So… have you talked to Thorin?” Lobelia asked. Bilbo frowned with a sigh before finally granting her an answer. 

“Of course I’ve talked to him,” Bilbo sighed. “Pretty much everyday. I want to know how things are going up there. You know we started our busiest season last week and I wasn’t there,” Bilbo tried to explain before Lobelia could start insinuating anything. 

“Right,” Lobelia nodded. 

“Anyway, it  _ sounds _ like things are going really well up there so far,” Bilbo continued when Lobelia didn’t offer more to the conversation. “There have been several tours and a handful of families and guests through the centre each day.” 

“If that’s anything to go by, we might be expecting a formal announcement that you’ll be moving then?” Lobelia asked. Bilbo swallowed loudly as he gathered his thoughts. 

“I suppose, yes,” Bilbo sighed as he looked around the kitchen. “But I wasn’t going to say anything before I knew for sure,” Bilbo tried to explain pointedly. Lobelia still made no attempt to apologize.

“Look, I know it’s none of my business, but you really  _ should _ , you know,  _ talk _ to Thorin before making any decision,” Lobelia suggested. “You wouldn’t want to be trapped in an awkward situation forever if you move up there. You could also save yourself the trouble of buying another place if you decide to move in with him.”

“Move  _ in _ —? Oh,  _ that’s  _ perfectly sound,” Bilbo retorted, sarcastically. “‘I’m moving up here, by the way, I think I’m interested in you, can I move in?’”

“I’m not saying you have to push into a relationship just for… I mean, people  _ do _ have roommates,” Lobelia shrugged, plucking a carrot off the tray of vegetables Bilbo was putting together. 

“He lives in a one bedroom apartment above the centre, Lobelia,” Bilbo frowned. “There’s not much room for  _ platonic _ roommates in a one bedroom apartment.”

“Still not saying it has to be platonic, either,” Lobelia told him in a sing-song voice before continuing in her normal voice, “I’m sure you two could be very happy together, anyway.” 

“I don’t even know if I want that,” Bilbo sighed. “I like him. I really like him. But I don’t feel things that way, I don’t… I don’t  _ do  _ romance and relationships and that whole song and dance.”

“But it’s different with him,” Lobelia commented.

“Yes, I suppose so,” Bilbo shrugged. “I don’t know. All I know is that I feel… I don’t know. I don’t know! I like him more than I’ve ever liked any of my ordinary friends. But then again, I’m not the friendliest fellow, am I? The only friend I’ve got is Hamfast next door and he’s basically just my neighbor who helps out with the garden now and then. He’s a little more than an acquaintance, but that’s it. Maybe what I feel for Thorin is just… I really want to be his friend? But then again he is my friend, he’s a really good friend and despite that I still feel like… like there should be something more. I want…” Bilbo’s voice died in his throat.  _ What did he want with Thorin? _

“Well, that’s for you to figure out, I suppose. But the way you talk about him, it’s not how normal people talk about their friends. This is coming from your local socialite who has about two dozen friends,” Lobelia boasted.

“I’m not quite normal though, am I?” Bilbo mumbled. They were quiet for a little while. “I mean, even if I did want something…  _ romantic _ with Thorin…” Bilbo started. “He’d never want to…” Bilbo huffed as he tried to collect his thoughts. “If I’m in love or—or attracted to him or whatever and he’s interested… I’m just supposed to tell him ‘I want to be with you and by the way the idea of sex absolutely repulses me and the thought of romance makes me a slightly nauseous, but a little less so when I think about you and when do you want to go on a second date?’” Bilbo snapped. He looked over his shoulder, hoping no one else was making their way inside to overhear this thoroughly embarrassing conversation. “I mean, that sounds  _ insane _ , Lobelia.”

“Bilbo, you think you’re the only one in the world like this and you aren’t. If he  _ does  _ care for you as you care for him, all he’ll care about is being with you. You don’t even need to broach the topic until you’re ready. If he leaves you over that, then he’s an asshole who doesn’t deserve you.”

“Thorin’s not an asshole,” Bilbo muttered. “That’s another thing,” Bilbo sighed. “If I thoroughly embarrass myself by thinking I could… we could… I mean, you know... and Thorin doesn’t feel  _ that _ way… then what? Do I stay and make it awkward by staying? Do I leave?” 

“If Thorin’s the nice guy you say he is, I’m sure you’d find a way to show your face around town that doesn’t involve your banishment,” Lobelia assured him. 

“Thanks,” Bilbo murmured. “That’s… real reassuring. Anyway, even if I was able to confess any of this to him, I don’t want him to… to pity me and involve himself and… and then be unhappy because of me.”

“You don’t know he’d be unhappy. Don’t deny  _ yourself _ a chance at happiness before you even talk to him about it,” Lobelia lectured. “For heaven’s sake, Bilbo!”

“It’s easy for you to say,” Bilbo muttered.  “You’ve never had to deny a partner the one thing everyone seems to deem the most important aspect of any ‘healthy’ romantic relationship.” Bilbo rolled his eyes.

“That’s… partially true, I suppose,” Lobelia shrugged. “It’s not like Otho and I are constantly having sex though and it really isn’t the end all, be all of a relationship. To some people it might be, but not everyone, really, Bilbo. I’m sure that there’s a way to have a fulfilling relationship without sex involved at all.” 

Bilbo groaned.

“Okay, can we stop discussing this?” Bilbo muttered. “It’s...weird.”

“It is, a bit, isn’t it?” Lobelia licked some of the vegetable dip off of the tip of her finger. “You’ll figure it out. I’m sure.”

“Well, thanks,” Bilbo murmured, feeling the blush continue to spread over his features. He’d had enough of his family and he just wanted to be back in Erebor. But first he’d have to survive the last of the gathering and Bilbo was sure he hadn’t heard the end of the personal questions. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE'VE FINALLY REACHED ACE!BILBO REVEAL AND I'M SO HAPPY. 
> 
> Asexual!Bilbo and Ace!Bagginshield in general is so important to me and while I was planning this fic I realized I've never explicitly explored it in fic, so I'm so so happy to finally bring it into my own fic. 
> 
> (And we're one step closer to that wonderful 'Asexual Relationship' tag listed above ehehehe) 
> 
> Thank you to my lovely beta [Kate](http://anunexpectedjourney.tumblr.com) and you can always find me [here](http://hobbitunderthemountain.tumblr.com) on tumblr!


	10. Chapter 10

Bilbo’s stomach fluttered as the train pulled into the station in Dale. He blushed, realizing why he was so nervously excited at the sight of the platform. Thorin had texted him earlier saying he was borrowing Bofur’s car and he would definitely be the one to pick Bilbo up for his return. 

After Bilbo’s conversations with Lobelia, he’d finally admitted to himself that he  _ was  _ quite smitten with Thorin in more than a friendly way. So maybe the trip wasn’t such a waste; he’d figured  _ something _ out. He still held no real hope of a relationship with Thorin, mostly because of his aversion to the more sexual aspects that accompanied most romantic relationships. But it was nice to at least understand the warm fondness that blossomed in his heart every time he thought about Thorin or whenever Thorin was nearby. Maybe one day Bilbo would have the courage to broach the subject with Thorin, but Bilbo couldn’t foresee that happening any time soon. 

The train pulled into the station and came to a halt. Bilbo pulled out his phone and nervously texted Thorin to let him know his train had finally arrived. He got up and grabbed his bags and made his way out onto the platform. Heading towards the main part of the station, he searched for Thorin.

Bilbo could feel his face crack into a grin when he saw Thorin waiting for him. Thorin hadn’t caught sight of Bilbo quite yet and was desperately looking around the station and anxiously checking his watch while sipping at a cup of coffee to preoccupy himself. 

Making his way towards Thorin, he wondered if Thorin would spot him before he was right upon him. At the last moment, Thorin turned and spotted Bilbo, looking startled by his sudden appearance. When Thorin opened his arms for a hug, Bilbo couldn’t help but grin even wider.

Bilbo set his luggage down and wrapped his arms around Thorin, holding him close for longer than was probably necessary. 

“I’m so glad you’re home,” Thorin muttered as they parted. “It honestly felt really strange around here without you.” 

“Thanks,” Bilbo smiled as he picked up his luggage. “I think.”

“It was a compliment,” Thorin confirmed awkwardly before eagerly offering to take one of Bilbo’s bags.

“Oh, thank you,” Bilbo said, handing one off to him. 

“Sure.” Thorin shouldered the bag. 

“So it sounds like we’ve had plenty of visitors, hm?” Bilbo attempted conversation as they fell into a quiet lull. 

“Yes!” Thorin agreed excitedly. “Yes, I really do think it’s going to be a good summer. So have you decided to move then?” Thorin questioned eagerly.

“I told you, I have no solid decision yet,” Bilbo reminded him. “But you’ll be the first to know, believe me,” Bilbo promised with a chuckle.

“Good,” Thorin nodded. They walked silently out of the train station and went to find Bofur’s car, loading Bilbo’s luggage into it.

“So, let’s see,” Thorin said as they got into the car and Thorin started it up. “It’s nearly dinner time and we’re all the way out here in Dale,” Thorin started cautiously. “Would you like to stop and get something other than take away for dinner?” 

“Oh, that would be nice,” Bilbo agreed, his stomach fluttering again at the proposal. “It can be our celebration for the start of the summer season.” 

They made their way into Dale, where Thorin found a parking spot off of one of the larger streets and got out as they walked up the block a little ways.

“Do you have a place in mind?” Bilbo asked as he fell into step beside Thorin. 

“Not particularly,” Thorin shrugged. “I figure we can walk around until something looks good.”

Bilbo felt his arm brush against Thorin’s hand and he had to fight the urge to reach out and take a hold of it. He squeezed his eyes shut. All these conversations he’d had with Lobelia were taking its toll on him, her words were getting to his head. He was acting ridiculous.

“That sounds good to me,” Bilbo agreed as he decided to clasp his hands behind his back. “Though I would appreciate if we found something close. I’m a little tired from travelling.”

“Oh, right,” Thorin realized. “Let’s see, it looks like there’s a little bistro at the end of the street, how about that?”

“That does look promising,” Bilbo smiled. As they walked, he felt Thorin’s hand on his back and Bilbo glanced shyly over at Thorin with a coy smile.

“Sorry,” Thorin murmured an apology. “I’m just...I missed you. I know I’ve already said it, but it’s true.” Thorin awkwardly patted Bilbo on the shoulder and Bilbo released his clasped hands behind his back and he began to wring his hands nervously.

“Come now, you’re only trying to charm me into making a decision to move to Erebor permanently.” Bilbo laughed nervously. 

“Is it working?” Thorin asked a tone of teasing in his voice, but his gaze seemed serious.

“A little,” Bilbo admitted quietly as his face burned in a bright blush and his hands went to fidget with the hem of his cardigan. “Anyway, it’s...really fine...I don’t mind so much, the...erm—well...your hands are nice—” Bilbo tried to explain that he really didn’t mind Thorin’s hand on  his back, but he continued to trip over his words when he realized what he’d said and soon they were standing directly outside the bistro.  

_ Your hands are nice?  _ Bilbo mentally panicked in embarrassment. He had to quickly hide his humiliation as a hostess greeted them at the door. Bilbo offered a pleasant smile to her, trying to conceal the fact that he was dying from absolute mortification before she led them to a small table within. He enjoyed looking around the small place to take his mind off of his horrifically embarrassing statement. It was quaint and unique; lights were strung along the ceiling and there was a myriad of posters and art on the walls. 

“Well, this is quite nice,” Bilbo smiled at Thorin as they took a seat, hoping the conversation from earlier would be completely dropped. To Bilbo’s relief, it seemed as if it had been.

“Tonight’s my treat, okay?” Thorin offered as he looked over the menu with a smile of his own. “We’re celebrating.”

“Are you sure?” Bilbo asked skeptically. 

“I told you we would celebrate. So here we are: celebrating. Think of this as my first payment on the loan you gave the centre,” Thorin explained. 

“Oh, well, thank you,” Bilbo nodded with a smile. “Don’t go too overboard, though.”

“We can afford a little extravagance,” Thorin assured him. “I promise.”

“I’ll be the judge of that once I look over the records from the past few weeks,” Bilbo smiled. 

“I think you’ll find that you will be pleasantly surprised,” Thorin bragged. “I’ve even kept the receipts and everything perfectly organized.”

“Thank you,” Bilbo chuckled. They were quiet as they looked the menu over and eventually a waitress came over to take their drink orders. Once they had ordered their food and drink—Thorin had insisted on ordering wine—they settled into pleasant conversation about their two weeks away from each other.

“So how many tours exactly did you give while I was away?” Bilbo asked, sipping at his glass of water. 

“Well, let’s see...at least a dozen...” Thorin pondered. “Probably more than that. We had a few days where we didn’t have any tours, but the weekends sometimes we gave two or three tours a day,” Thorin finally concluded. 

“Goodness,” Bilbo smiled. “I’m so glad. I can’t wait to see how much it picks up.” 

“I mean it’s just been so nice to just be out on the boats. After spending so many months working on them and hoping they’d run in time for the summer...it’s nice to actually spend some time out on the lake, especially after closing when you don’t have to worry about giving the tour itself. The other night I took the boat to look around the lake before calling it a night and ensure the boat was still running perfectly. Anyway, you should see the sunset over the lake, it’s amazing. I’ll have to take you out one evening after we close.”

“I—Th...that sounds really nice,” Bilbo nodded, his heart clenching in anticipation to the frankly romantic offer.  _ Damn it all, _ Bilbo thought to himself. Now that he was acutely aware of how his feelings about Thorin were evolving, everything seemed to set his insides into an absolute frenzy.  “I-I look forward to it,” Bilbo finally managed to choke out.

They fell into a somewhat awkward silence as they sipped at their water. Eventually they were brought their two glasses of  wine and they thanked the waitress. 

“So, I started going through my parents’ things,” Bilbo told him to try to break the silence. “Trying to get it all ready to move if need be.” 

“That’s good,” Thorin nodded. “I expect that’ll be quite a task. Do you have a lot to go through?”

“Luckily, my mother cleaned quite a bit out after my father died, so it’s mostly her things. But I’ve barely touched it and I ended up finding at least three unfinished manuscripts from my mother scattered throughout the house,” Bilbo muttered to himself. “I found folders and notes everywhere for them.”

“Manuscripts?” Thorin frowned. 

“Erm, she was a writer. Wrote nearly every day until she got really sick,” Bilbo explained with a small smile. “Part of my inheritance are the royalties from book sales. It’s not a whole lot, but it certainly helps.” 

“What did she write?” Thorin asked. 

“I don’t know if you’d know any of them, but she didn’t go by the name ‘Baggins.’ She wrote under her maiden name of Took. Belladonna Took. She wrote a variety of fiction, dabbled a little in mystery-slash-thriller. I remember after one of those were published my father was afraid to sleep in the same room as her.”

“What? Why?” Thorin chuckled. 

“It was particularly dark, including uh...a wife doing unpleasant things to her husband, for lack of better words. I don’t want to spoil it in case you’d ever want to read it. My mother tried to assure him that those things only happened to that character because deep down he was a horrible man and my father, well, he was the softest, the most polite, and… and just sweetest man you’d ever meet,” Bilbo explained.

“So basically the complete opposite of this character,” Thorin commented with an amused smile. 

“Exactly,” Bilbo chuckled. “He was still terrified that those things had been in...you know, in her head to begin with.”

“Right,” Thorin nodded with a chuckle. “Do you have any of her books with you? I’d love to read some of them.” 

“I don’t have that specific book with me but I did bring three or four of her others back with me. I like to keep them with me. I still feel as if she’s...speaking to me. I mean, that sounds really weird, but…” Bilbo muttered taking a moment to sip at his wine. 

“They’re her words,” Thorin offered. “What a wonderful way to stay connected with your mother.”

“I’ve...almost been scared to look through them again, which is why I didn’t pack them my first trip out here when she first died. I found that the longer I stayed, the more I missed having at least one of them with me. So I’m glad I was able to bring several of them back with me for the time being. Anyway, you’ll have to remind me to lend you one,” Bilbo told him. 

“I’d love that, thank you,” Thorin smiled. 

“Speaking of family...when is your sister and her family coming in? I assume they’re not here yet?” Bilbo asked. 

“No, they’re still wrapping up things there before they head out here for the summer. The boys are finishing their last week or two of school, I think,” Thorin confirmed. “I think they decided it’ll be my brother and sister with the boys and Víli will head in on a train once he’s done with the work he’s still finishing before he takes off for the summer. I’m not sure how long they’ll stay, I mean my sister usually tries to stay as long as she can. Either my brother or Víli will come in later in the summer or head back early. They don’t usually like to drop their business for the entire summer.”

“That’s understandable,” Bilbo nodded. “That would be difficult to take off the entire summer. That’s nice that your sister and nephews come and stay most of the summer, though.” 

“I feel bad, because I know the boys have friends at home I’m sure they’d rather be spending time with over the summer,” Thorin shrugged.

“Do...they usually act like they don’t want to be here during the summers?” Bilbo asked. 

“No, I’m...fairly certain they enjoy it up here. They don’t act out or anything.” Thorin shrugged. 

“Don’t worry about it too much, Thorin,” Bilbo assured him. “I’m sure they enjoy their time up here. At least it seemed that way when they were here the other month.”

Soon their food came out and they were mostly silent as they enjoyed their meal. 

“I’m sorry for not being better company,” Bilbo apologized wiping away a spot of tomato sauce at the corner of his mouth. “I was starving. I didn’t have a big breakfast and I only packed a sandwich for lunch on the train.” 

Thorin chuckled and assured him that he was just as hungry and that he was perfectly content eating without continuous conversation. Soon the waitress came by with the bill, which Thorin proudly paid while Bilbo rolled his eyes. 

“We really could have done without the glasses of wine,” Bilbo remarked as he finished his glass. Once Thorin had paid and their dishes cleared away, they headed out of the restaurant. 

“Ah, that was delicious,” Thorin sighed contentedly as they headed down the block towards the car. “What time is it?” Thorin mused aloud. 

“Ah, about eight, I think,” Bilbo checked his wristwatch. 

“ _ What?” _ Thorin gasped. “That late already?” 

“Is something the matter?” Bilbo asked as he heard Thorin curse under his breath. 

“Bofur’s not going to be happy,” Thorin murmured. 

“Does...Bofur need his car back or something?” Bilbo asked as they reached the car and Thorin sighed as they both got in.

“Something like that…” Thorin shrugged. 

**x**

Bilbo’s thoughts didn’t linger long on Thorin’s odd behavior and instead he enjoyed the ride away from Dale. He was still a little stiff from the train ride, but it was a relief to finally see the countryside of Rhovanion and the large mountain of Erebor looming in the distance. It did feel a little like coming home, Bilbo reflected. More so than his return back to the Shire. 

As they got into town, Thorin drove them back to the bed and breakfast. 

“You can just drop me off,” Bilbo told him. “I’m sure you’re tired.” 

“No, no, let me at least help you get your bags up to the house,” Thorin offered. “Gotta give Bofur his keys back too.” 

“Okay, if you’re sure,” Bilbo sighed. He was a little tired himself and he hoped there wouldn’t have to be a great deal more socializing because he was ready to head straight to bed and get a good night's rest. 

Unfortunately, that was not going to happen for quite some time. 

As Thorin led them into the bed and breakfast and called out to Bofur, there was a large cheer from back in the kitchen and dining area. Thorin left Bilbo’s bags near the staircase before he led Bilbo back to where the cheer had come from. Bilbo stared wide-eyed at everyone in the kitchen. He was used to Bofur, Bombur and Bifur being there, but tonight Dwalin and Balin, Dwalin’s elder brother, joined them. Bilbo had met Balin a couple times when he’d come by the centre to say hello to Thorin or talk to Dwalin. 

“There you are!” Bofur called.

“What’s going on?” Bilbo blinked at the spread of food on the dining table as well. “Have I missed someone’s birthday?”

“Isn’t it obvious? It’s a welcome back party!” Bofur exclaimed as he came over and guided Bilbo over to the food and drink. Bilbo inwardly groaned. It was an extremely kind gesture on their part but he really was exhausted. “It was Thorin’s idea actually,” Bofur boasted. “He’d never tell you himself, of course.” 

Despite his exhaustion, his heart fluttered pleasantly at the thought that Thorin had suggested such a celebration to honor Bilbo’s return. Dinner was beyond anything Bilbo had ever expected, but to have a party waiting for him back in Erebor truly exceeded expectations. Thorin’s cheeks darkened in a blush and he shrugged as nonchalantly as he could. 

“I mean, Bofur and Bifur planned everything and Bombur cooked...I hardly…” Thorin insisted. 

“Well, thank you,” Bilbo smiled. “Thank you, everyone. I appreciate it very much.” 

Bilbo wondered if Bofur had any additional guests staying at the bed and breakfast and if they should try to keep it down so they didn’t disturb them. However, by the way everyone was acting, it didn’t seem as if there were any additional strangers staying that night. It was a Monday after all and Bilbo assumed the weekend guests had left that morning or the morning before.

They boisterously insisted on Bilbo telling them all about his trip and about his decision. 

“So have you decided or not?” Dwalin asked. 

“Has Thorin not kept you posted? I haven’t decided anything yet. I told Thorin that more than a week ago,” Bilbo explained.

“No, Thorin failed to mention it. But now that you say so, he has been in a bit of a mood and I suppose that would be the reason why. I thought it was because he hadn’t heard from you… or just you know, the fact you weren’t here anyway,” Dwalin remarked. Bilbo’s gaze flickered over to Thorin whose blush continue to brighten. 

“I haven’t been  _ in a mood, _ ” Thorin argued.

“What do you call this, then?” Dwalin asked. “I thought you’d be over  _ your mood _ with Bilbo back and  after taking him out for a  _ special _ dinner.” 

“Dwalin,” Thorin growled threateningly. “Enough.” 

“I did talk it over quite a bit with my cousins, but nothing official has been decided,” Bilbo interjected, trying to save Thorin from any more humiliation. 

“But he’s pretty sure, with the centre picking up traffic,” Thorin interjected. 

“All right, whatever you say,” Dwalin shrugged.

Soon a few other people joined them after knocking on the front door and letting themselves in after Bofur shouted for them to do so. The group had moved into the living area to continue to visit as the new guests entered. They were faces Bilbo had seen around town and had informally met once or twice. One had silver hair that was elaborately braided back as well as a full silver beard. Balin greeted him fondly and Bilbo remembered he helped Balin run his antique and collectibles shop in town. The other man had similar features as the older man but his hair was bright red and pulled back into braid as well. He too had a moustache and beard. Dwalin loudly greeted him and Bilbo remembered that this must have been Dwalin’s business partner at the auto shop and he was the first man’s brother. 

“Nori, Dori!” Bofur called and Bilbo’s memory was instantly reminded of their names. “I didn’t think you’d be stopping by tonight!” 

“Heard there was a party and there’s not usually much excitement around here on a Monday night, so why not?” Nori gladly explained. “Heard we’re celebrating a new addition to our community, cheers!” Nori winked at Bilbo.

“Oh, not yet. I mean, possibly. But I haven’t made a sure decision yet.” Bilbo shook his head.

“Oh,” Nori sighed. “By the way Dwalin was talking, it sounded like it was a sure thing!”

“Yeah, I thought it was,” Dwalin patted Nori on the shoulder. “Still is, if you ask me. He’s just waiting to see how the centre does this summer season. Looks like we’ll do well, so there’s no reason Bilbo won’t be able to move here.”

Bilbo rolled his eyes but he was too tired to retort on his own behalf. They all continued to visit and Bilbo continued to wilt on the couch as the evening progressed. He had thought he was tired when he arrived back at the bed and breakfast; now, he was downright exhausted. Once or twice he nearly nodded off on Thorin’s shoulder. After the third time, Thorin took notice. 

“Hey, do you want to call it a night?” Thorin asked as Bilbo rubbed his eyes. 

“Yeah, I am pretty exhausted.” Bilbo gladly took the opportunity to slip away.

“Come on, I’ll help you get your bags up to your room.” Thorin got up and offered a hand to help Bilbo off the couch. Everyone bid Bilbo goodnight as the two headed out of the room. 

“You really don’t have to take my bags, it’s fine, you’ve done plenty,” Bilbo assured Thorin quietly. 

“Don’t worry about it. You’re tired, let me help you,” Thorin retorted softly. They were still within earshot of the living room. Bilbo didn’t want to cause a scene so he allowed Thorin to take his bags and ferry them upstairs. Bilbo unlocked his door and opened it for Thorin to come in and deposit them. 

“All right, are you good?” Thorin asked as he set the bags on the floor. 

“Fine, yes,” Bilbo replied as he toed off his shoes. “Thank you.” 

“Hey, if you want to take tomorrow off, don’t worry about coming in,” Thorin offered. 

“No, no. I’ll be in, I promise,” Bilbo assured Thorin with a tired smile. “I just need a good night’s rest, that’s all.” 

“If you’re sure,” Thorin sighed. “Goodnight.”

“Ah, thank you for coming to pick me up… and the bags oh, a-and the party, and all of that. It was really nice.” Bilbo stopped Thorin. 

“Of course,” Thorin smiled. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

Bilbo nodded and mumbled a tired response as Thorin left, shutting the door behind himself.

When Bilbo finally crawled into bed for the evening, he expected to fall asleep right away, but sleep eluded him. His mind buzzed with the night’s events, and he couldn’t ignore the warm feeling whenever he thought about Thorin and all the planning he had done around Bilbo’s return to Erebor. Going out to dinner was already beyond expected, but a welcome back party as well? There was really no need to go to that kind of extravagance, he’d only been gone for two weeks…

And to learn Thorin had been in a ‘mood’ without Bilbo there—and Thorin’s insistence that it  _ wasn’t _ a ‘mood’—was an interesting discovery. Thorin had blushed so much, his entire face burned a bright red. Maybe Bilbo wasn’t so crazy after all to think Thorin might reciprocate some of the feelings Bilbo harbored for him. 

Of course, Thorin might have reacted like that because he didn’t feel that way about him and Dwalin was just misinterpreting things and embarrassing Thorin. 

Even if Thorin did return Bilbo’s feelings, there was still the matter of physical intimacy and Bilbo was not prepared to broach that topic. Probably ever. But if Bilbo stayed, would that mean they’d continue to dance around each other for the rest of their lives?  _ That _ sounded miserable.

Bilbo groaned as he tossed and turned and tried to quiet his mind. It felt like an eternity, but eventually he was able to drift off into a deep sleep. 

**x**

The next day, Bilbo showed up at the centre on time and Thorin still seemed a little surprised to see him. 

“You really could have slept in or something,” Thorin remarked. “You were exhausted last night.”

“Yes, and then I slept and now I’m less tired, do you see how that works?” Bilbo replied sarcastically. “Now, out of my seat.” 

“Oh, right,” Thorin chuckled as he stood from the office chair behind the desk. “Your throne, your royal highness.”

Bilbo gave an unamused hum and quirked an eyebrow at Thorin as he sat down. 

“Okay, where are the receipts?” Bilbo asked. “I want to see how well we  _ really _ did in the past two weeks instead of just listening to your boasts.” 

“I have them all…” Thorin trailed off as he pulled open a drawer underneath the desk. He pulled out a vinyl zipper bank pouch and placed it proudly in front of Bilbo. “Here.” 

Bilbo couldn’t help but laugh as he unzipped the pouch and a few of the receipts tried to escape onto the floor. 

“Perfectly organized you said?” Bilbo chuckled. “You just threw them into a bag,” Bilbo sighed after he picked up the two or three receipts that landed on the floor. “This is everything from the past two weeks?”

“Yes,” Thorin replied sternly. 

“Well, at least you kept them all together,” Bilbo admitted. “We’re really going to have to work out a better system than a vinyl pouch, especially if business picks up. This may be okay for now but what’s going to happen if I’m not here to keep it all together and the centre gets a lot more traffic and the receipts just end up haphazardly in the vinyl pouch to be forgotten?”

“But… you are going to be here,” Thorin looked at him anxiously. _ “Especially  _ if business picks up.” 

“Heavens, Thorin, even if I do move up here there are going to be times that I’m going to go home, or take a vacation or a day off every once in awhile.” Bilbo rolled his eyes. 

“I’m sure we’ll figure something out,” Thorin shrugged. “Oh, before I forget…”

Thorin searched the desk for something else and Bilbo lifted the vinyl pouch and his things out of the way. Finally, Thorin exclaimed as he reached for a scrap of paper. 

“Reservations!” Thorin told Bilbo proudly, extending the scrap of paper for Bilbo’s inspection. “I couldn’t find where you had written down the other reservations in the past, so I just…” 

“Reservations written on this scrap of paper,” Bilbo sighed. “That’s…” Bilbo started to chastise Thorin, but realized Thorin was beginning to look completely defeated by Bilbo’s criticisms. He was being a little harsh, but in his defense he was still tired and confused about his feelings for Thorin, which he was taking out on Thorin. Maybe he should have taken the opportunity to rest a little longer today. “Okay, you’re just not used to... this just means we need to set up a system for this too,” Bilbo decided as he set the scrap of paper where he could see it and remember to put it with all the other reservation information. “I’ll set up an online calendar for the centre or something and that way if either of us takes a reservation it can go right in there, okay?” 

“That sounds good,” Thorin nodded. 

“All right, I know you’re itching to get outside and goof around all day while I get to work organizing this all,” Bilbo smiled knowingly at him. 

“I don’t goof off,” Thorin frowned. 

“Then what do you do out there with the one boat all fixed now? I mean we don’t have the resources for you to work on the other boats…” Bilbo asked. 

“Maintain the rest of the property. Did you know there’s weeds on the other side of the building that are waist-deep?” Thorin asked. “I was going to tackle those today if you’re so keen to know.”

“All right, go tackle the weeds then,” Bilbo conceded. “I’ll radio you if we get guests.”

**x**

It was another couple weeks before Dís and Frerin arrived in Erebor with the boys. The night Thorin’s family arrived, they all stayed up quite late in the centre. Dís had brought the updated signage that she, Frerin, and Víli had worked on and that Bilbo had offered his opinions on via email.

Bifur and Bofur had brought over several large styrofoam take away boxes from Bombur’s cafe for their dinner and they set up a kind of buffet in the back room. Bombur eventually joined them after he had closed up for the evening and they all admired the signage that had been replaced. 

Bilbo sat on one of the benches in the small exhibit area with his second helping of dinner as he watched Dís and Frerin argue about rearranging some of the dioramas. Thorin came and sat beside Bilbo, deciding to stay out of the fight as Bofur offered his two cents to the siblings. 

“Are you sure you don’t want to step in?” Bilbo muttered as Thorin sat down. 

“Oh, no,” Thorin shook his head. “They’ll figure it out without me. They don’t need big brother stepping in every time to end a fight.”

“This is your centre though,” Bilbo shrugged. “You should have it the way you like it.” 

“It’ll be fine, whatever they decide,” Thorin explained. “And if they really screw it up I’ll just come down here tomorrow morning before everyone’s awake and adjust it to the way I like. I’m just surprised is all. I think it’s a new record, them being here only three hours and they’re already arguing about something.”

“Perhaps they bottled it all up on the trip here,” Bilbo suggested. 

“Whatever the case, I’m staying out of it. They’ll be acting as if nothing even happened by tomorrow morning,” Thorin said. 

“Chips?” Bilbo offered Thorin some of the chips on his plate. 

“Dinner and a show, hm?” Thorin chuckled as he took a few chips off of Bilbo’s plate. “Would you want to go out on the boat? Get away from this madness for a bit?” Thorin suggested.

“It’s late, Thorin,” Bilbo sighed. “Besides, it’s the first night your family is here. It would look a little suspicious if we’re already sneaking away and they haven’t even been here a full day yet.” 

“I suppose you’re right,” Thorin agreed. “My sister wouldn’t let me hear the end of it.” 

“We’ll go another time.” Bilbo blushed and smiled down at his chips. “I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bilbo's back! :D 
> 
> Apologies for the delay, and the delay just might continue as I'm picking up steam on my other long WIP _Love Me For Eternity_ at the moment! We'll see how things go! Thanks for your continued reading and as always thank you to my lovely beta [Kate!](http://buttersbeer.tumblr.com) And you can find me on tumblr [here!](http://hobbitunderthemountain.tumblr.com)


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the super delay on these chapters! After some beta shifts, I've decided to go unbeta'd with this fic, so apologies if there's an increase in errors, etc. BUT it means I should be able to get these chapters out a little faster in the near future. With that being said, this was one of my favorite chapters to write so enjoy this very exciting chapter ;)))

Dís and her family had been there about a week and Bilbo was settling into familiarity with Thorin’s family once again. Bilbo was able to slip away one evening to accompany Thorin on his last check of the lake in the evenings. Thorin was right, it was beautiful out on the lake at sunset and he was glad Thorin finally brought him out to see it. 

Thorin had begun to make a daily habit out of taking the boat around the lake once more after the last tour of the day. He claimed he only meant to make sure everything was all right with the boat and out on the lake. Bilbo, on the other hand, figured Thorin was just pleased to have a boat in working condition and wanted to spend as much time using it as he did fixing it. Bilbo knew that was quite a bit of time to make up for.

Usually, Bilbo stayed at the centre and chatted with Dís or Frerin while Thorin took his last trip around the lake. 

One night, Dís and Dwalin were at the centre as they had both helped with the weekend rush they’d had that day. Frerin had promised the boys a day outside the town and Dís had suspected that he’d wanted to take his nephews up to the old estate.

“I can’t even imagine what the place is like today,” Dís lamented. “It’s been years since I’ve been up there to explore.” 

“Thorin took me up there a couple months ago,” Bilbo told her. “It’s quite the impressive place. Though a tad dangerous,” Bilbo winced as he recalled the shooting pain in his ankle after falling through the floor. 

“He knows to keep them out of the house itself at least,” Dís shrugged. Bilbo bit the inside of his cheek, thinking about how he’d convinced Thorin to take him inside. 

“He also knows that you would kill him if anything happened to the boys,” Dwalin chuckled. 

“That too,” Dís smothered her smile. “He’s just happy to have time with the boys.” Dís shrugged. They visited for a bit longer and as time dragged on Bilbo continually glanced at the clock on the wall. These glances didn’t go unnoticed by Dís who finally addressed Bilbo’s anxious glances. 

“Well, the wind is picking up and I suppose the water is starting to look a little rough out there, plus it’s getting dark,” Dís commented. “Why don’t you call Thorin in for the evening and we’ll eat dinner. I’m tired of waiting for him to finish his  _ alone time _ out on the water.” 

“Yeah, it’s starting to look like a storm is coming in, he should be coming in at any moment.” Bilbo reached for the radio. 

“Thorin, you there?” Bilbo asked as he pushed the talk button. They waited, listening to the faint crackle of dead air. “Thorin?” Bilbo tried again. 

“Maybe he just has it where he can’t hear it,” Dís suggested. Bilbo shrugged. 

“Thorin,” Bilbo tried again. “Where are you at?”

They waited in silence for a little longer. Dís reached for the walkie herself and pushed the talk button.

“Thorin, we’re tired and we want to go eat dinner. Come in or we’re leaving without you.”

More silence ensued.

“I don’t like this,” Bilbo muttered without pushing down the talk button. “It isn’t like him. Thorin always gets back to me.” 

“Want me to go out and ride down the shore to see if I can spot him and wave him down?” Dwalin offered. “The battery could be dead.” 

“I hate to send you out in what’s looking to be a promising horrible storm, but could you? I really don’t like Thorin not getting back to me and with the water looking the way it is…” Bilbo trailed off. Dwalin nodded before reaching for the keys to Thorin’s motorbike on the front counter and grabbed an extra radio. 

“I’ll let you know as soon as I spot him,” Dwalin held up the radio to demonstrate. Bilbo nodded and watched as Dwalin headed out pulling his coat tighter around his shoulders. Bilbo stood up and went to watch out the window. 

“I’m sure he’s fine, Bilbo,” Dís tried to comfort him. “Like Dwalin said, the battery could be dead. Besides, if anything’s wrong… he’s been through plenty of shit out here and hasn’t gotten himself killed yet.” 

“How reassuring,” Bilbo muttered, his grasp tightening on the radio in his hand. They waited for what seemed like hours, in silence before the crackling radio finally interrupted the silence.

“Bilbo,” Dwalin’s voice came through the radio faintly. “Bilbo, are you there?” Dwalin called. 

“Yes! Yes, where is he? Have you found him?” Bilbo asked hesitantly. 

“Aye, I found him, but it’s not… exactly good.” 

“What do you mean, ‘not good?’” Bilbo demanded, his voice sticking in his throat.  _ “It’s not good?” _

“I’ve just called for an ambulance, he’s pretty badly hurt,” Dwalin explained. 

_ “What?” _ Bilbo stared at Dís in disbelief. 

“He’s hurt and the boat is just floating out there… what, did you _ swim to shore _ , Thorin?” Dwalin asked over the radio. 

“Fuck,” Bilbo hissed, his hand coming up to drag his fingers down over his face. “ _ Fuck _ ,” Bilbo growled louder before looking back down at the radio. “Where are you?” Bilbo finally responded to Dwalin. 

“Down the east shore about six miles,” Dwalin told him. “He’s in bad shape...he’s not even making sense. Must have hit his head or something.”

“We’ll take my car,” Dís told him. “We should get down the service road easy enough.”

“We’ll be down in a minute, Dwalin,” Bilbo replied over the radio before whispering another quiet, “ _ fuck.” _

“Bilbo, calm down,” Dís tried to assure him. “You’re not going to do Thorin any good if you’re freaking out like this.” 

_ “I’m not freaking out!”  _ Bilbo cried. 

“Bilbo,” Dís snapped. “Pull it together. Get your coat and come with me.” 

Bilbo shakily nodded his head and did as he was told. Hurrying out of the centre they jumped into Dís’ car, Dís pulling out her phone and navigating through her contacts as she started the car. Putting the car into reverse and backing out, she held the phone up to her ear. As soon as she’d backed out she put the car into drive. 

“Frerin, go ahead and get the boys something to eat there at the bed and breakfast or go down to Bombur’s,” Dís told him calmly as she pulled out of the parking lot. Instead of turning onto the street she turned onto the dirt service road that went down the east shore of the lake. “We’ve got a little bit of an emergency down here… no, listen to me. It sounds like Thorin is hurt, there’s an ambulance on the way… yes, I’m serious. I’ll let you know what’s going on once I get more details. Yeah… mhm, bye.” Dís hung up her phone. Bilbo couldn’t believe Dís could be so calm in such a terrifying situation. 

“Bilbo, listen. It didn’t sound like the injuries are going to be fatal or anything like that.” 

“You don’t know how they sounded!” Bilbo retorted harshly. “They very well could be!” He shouted as he brushed away tears that were beginning to fall. “ _ Fuck.” _ Bilbo hissed again. 

“Bilbo, come on. Breathe,” Dís told him sternly, as Thorin’s motorbike came into view. “In and out. Breathe.”

“Oh, fuck.  _ Fuck, _ ” Bilbo breathed. 

“Goddamnit, Bilbo. You’re going to stay in the car if you’re going to act like that!” Dís practically shouted. Bilbo was stunned into silence both by Dís and the scene they were driving up to. Dís pulled alongside the motorbike making sure there was enough room for an ambulance to get to Thorin. 

Dwalin was sitting on the ground beside where Thorin laid, still on the phone with the dispatch. His jacket had been shed and used to cover Thorin in an attempt to keep him warm. Dís killed the engine and hopped out of the car. Bilbo couldn't move. Whatever had happened to Thorin he didn’t want to see it. Dís looked back and waved him out of the car and Bilbo reluctantly opened the car door and stepped out. 

“What happened?” Bilbo could hear Dís ask over the loud howling wind. 

“I don’t know, he’s been saying nonsense since I got here,” Dwalin told her, holding the phone away from his mouth as he spoke. 

“Thorin?” Dís looked down to her pale and injured brother. “Thorin, look, Bilbo is here.” Dís continued to wave Bilbo over, who shakily made his way to where Thorin was lying. Bilbo bit his lip trying not to break out into hysterics as Dís had warned. 

“H-Hey,” Bilbo’s lip quivered as he spoke. 

“Bilbo,” Thorin gasped. “The lake...the boat and the lake…” Thorin breathed.

“What the hell happened, Thorin?” Dís asked. She squinted out at the lake and spotted the boat bobbing on the surface of the lake.

“Bilbo…!” Thorin gasped as if he were trying to tell Bilbo something. 

“I’m right here,” Bilbo told him gently grabbing hold of his hand. He could hardly stand to look at Thorin. There was a trail of blood, dripping from his hairline. His eye was bruised and he had several other bad scratches. Bilbo realized Thorin’s other wrist, the one he was not currently holding onto was sitting awkwardly and...God, Bilbo really hoped that wasn’t bone exposed through that wound. He swallowed whatever urge to vomit. 

“You’re going to be all right,” Bilbo assured him. “Help is on the way, you’re going to be fine.” 

“Keep talking, you’re calming him down,” Dís whispered. 

“Thorin, look at me,” Bilbo murmured. “What happened? You were just doing one of your last looks around the lake before we closed for the evening.” 

“Th-The water was...bad, the engine quit on me…” Thorin mumbled. “Th-The boat was jarred and I stumbled... a-and I saw something in the water. It… it hit the boat again and it nearly tipped the boat o-over and I was thrown overboard. When I resurfaced, I-I turned and swam for shore… I thought it was closer… I couldn’t risk going back… with  _ that thing _ in the water…”

“What _ thing?” _ Dís asked shrilly.

“Goddamnit, where is that ambulance?” Dwalin growled. The dispatcher over the phone faintly tried to reassure him and finally, they began to hear sirens in the distance. The flashing lights of the ambulance appeared coming down the dirt road Dís and Bilbo had driven down to find them. Bilbo was somewhat terrified as the ambulance finally pulled up to where they were and paramedics got out to assess the situation and administer any first aid they could there before moving Thorin into the ambulance. Dís, Bilbo, and Dwalin hovered anxiously nearby until they finally pulled a gurney out of the ambulance. 

Bilbo was shaking as they moved Thorin onto the gurney and into the ambulance, and he wasn’t sure if it was from nerves or because he was cold. Dís reassuringly rubbed his back as one of the paramedics came to talk to them to tell them they were taking Thorin to the nearest hospital. The paramedic then asked if anyone present was a family member and Dís stepped forward explaining she was Thorin’s sister. They offered for her to ride in the ambulance to the hospital if she wished. She nodded and handed the keys to her car over to Dwalin before she got in the ambulance.

“We’ll be right behind you after we get the boat back to shore,” Dwalin assured her. 

“Be careful out there,” Dís muttered as she bid them goodbye and turned back towards the ambulance. Then the ambulance took off back down the dirt road and Dwalin handed the car keys to Bilbo. 

“W-What are you–?” Bilbo shakily disputed. 

“I need to get Thorin’s bike back to the centre. I just need you to drive the car back down the service road. Can you do that? I’ll drive us the rest of the way to the hospital once we get the boat back in.” Dwalin was already mounting the motorbike. Bilbo nodded as he clutched the keys in his hand. It had been quite some time since he had last driven a car but he imagined he could manage to get the car back to the centre at least. Hesitantly, he got into the car and put the keys in the ignition as he watched Dwalin take off down the road on the bike. Bilbo put the car into drive and carefully navigated back down the road. As he pulled back into the parking lot, Dwalin was standing there waiting for him. 

“Those boats are built to withstand choppy water,” Dwalin muttered as Bilbo joined him. “For him to be thrown off like that… he’s used to handling those boats, I just don’t understand.” 

Bilbo’s heart pounded at the thought, his mind quickly reminding him how easily Thorin could have died. 

“Before we get to the hospital we have to go out there and tow the boat back to the centre,” Dwalin said as he gestured for Bilbo to follow him out to the pier. 

“What?!” Bilbo exclaimed. “We can’t! It’s obviously unsafe out there! We’ll end up like Thorin!”

“Bilbo, it was a freak accident,” Dwalin assured Bilbo as he hopped into their second boat. 

“This boat isn’t even up to code, we can’t—!” Bilbo continued to protest as Dwalin tossed him a life jacket. 

“It works, and if we don’t get that boat to shore,  it could get damaged even more… or worse, and we’d have a bigger problem on our hands. In case you haven’t noticed we don’t exactly have extra usable boats lying around.” 

Bilbo tried to swallow his panic and secured the life jacket around him and got on the other boat. He tried to recall what was keeping this boat from being technically ‘safe’ to be used for tours and couldn’t remember. As if it wasn’t bad enough to be out on the lake with whatever caused Thorin to be thrown from the boat, they had to use the boat that wasn’t in the best condition. 

Luckily, Dwalin was able to navigate straight to the boat and quickly secured a towline to it as he took a quick look at the damage. 

“It doesn’t seem too bad. No leaks from what I can tell at least, but for some reason, the boat’s engine won’t start,” Dwalin explained as he started up their boat to get them and the other boat back to shore. “I can’t imagine why. We  _ just  _ serviced it. It was back to perfect working condition!”

Bilbo couldn’t think of the damaged boat at the moment and could only thank the heavens that the second boat started again and they were able to sail smoothly back towards shore. They didn’t run into much trouble, despite the water getting choppier as the storm continued to roll in over the lake. They were able to reach the pier before the storm hit completely. 

After the boats were secure they hurried back to Dís’ car, shielding themselves from the rain that began to fall and jumped in. Dwalin pulled out of the parking lot as the rain pounded against the car. They fell silent the rest of the way to the hospital, both of them too shaken to speak. 

When they arrived at the hospital, they entered the lobby of the emergency room and found Dís waiting for them. 

“What’s going on?” Bilbo asked. 

“He’s gone into surgery for his broken wrist. They don’t think his collarbone requires surgery and his head wound is superficial though they are watching for signs of a concussion.” Dís summarized quickly. 

Bilbo and Dwalin collapsed into chairs in the waiting room beside her. Dís had begun to text whoever had gotten a hold of her. Bilbo wondered if she had told Víli what had happened yet or if she were still conversing with Frerin. 

“Did they say how long it would be?” Dwalin asked. Dís shook her head. “All right, then. I’m going to go pick up dinner for us.” Dwalin volunteered. “I’m starving and it sounds like it’s going to be a little while.” They nodded before deciding where Dwalin would go and what they wanted.  

After Dwalin left, Dís and Bilbo sat in silence for a little while, Dís continually checking her phone and texting while Bilbo stared off, looking at nothing in particular, letting his mind race, never landing too long on one specific thought. However, all of his thoughts shared one link and that link was Thorin.

“I saw him just before he went in for surgery,” Dís told Bilbo quietly as she set her phone on her lap. Bilbo’s trance was broken and he looked over, waiting for her to continue. “They’d started him on pain medication while we were on the way to the hospital, so he was completely loopy by the time we got here. He was angry with me that I was there and you weren’t. He kept asking when you’d be in to see him.” Dís chuckled. 

“Really?” Bilbo asked softly. 

“I told him you’d be there just after his surgery,” Dís continued. “That seemed to reassure him a little bit, at least.” 

Bilbo wasn’t sure what to say to Dís in response so instead, he remained silent, his mind picking up where it left off, chasing a million thoughts through his head. Soon Dwalin returned with a sack of fast food in his hand and gave Dís and Bilbo what they’d ordered. Dís and Dwalin quietly discussed what was to be done about the centre. The summer tourist season was just getting underway and their one usable boat was most likely out of commission. Thorin was also not likely to be in any shape to give tours for a while.

“Shouldn’t we be worried about whatever happened to Thorin’s boat could happen to the others? I mean, if the safest ship in our ‘fleet’ and  _ that  _ was damaged and threw Thorin around enough to severely injure him just because of some choppy water…” Bilbo finally spoke up. “I mean, imagine if we had guests on board when that had happened?”

Dís and Dwalin were silent. 

“It was probably just a fluke. A random accident,” Dwalin suggested. “The water wasn’t exactly calm when we were out there and we were fine. Maybe he just hit a really choppy area of the lake and… I don’t know.” 

“I mean, you both heard him on the shore. He said there was something out there. Something that jarred the boat so badly it threw him around and eventually tossed him overboard.” Dís glanced between the two. 

“Are you suggesting that Smaug, as in the mythical monster that lives in the lake, did this?” Dwalin raised his eyebrows. 

“What else?” Dís snapped back. 

“It had to have been the wind, Dís,” Dwalin rolled his eyes. 

“I mean, it would make sense…” Bilbo muttered. “As to why a boat of that size was tossed about and damaged so easily in the water like that. Nothing else I could possibly fathom could do that damage to Thorin and the boat. Not just  _ wind. _ ” 

“You can’t be serious,” Dwalin frowned. “It was probably just a mechanical failure of some kind and the wind was just really bad!”

“He was jostled enough to sustain a broken collarbone and a broken wrist not to mention, being thrown out of the boat, Dwalin!” Dís argued. 

“Let’s just wait until Thorin wakes up,” Bilbo decided. The two of them fell silent and nodded in agreement. 

“Anyway, we need to post an announcement that we’re not going to be able to do tours the next couple days,” Dís finally spoke up. “No matter what happened, we need to take a hiatus. We need to figure out what needs to be done in terms of repairs and ensuring this doesn’t happen while guests are on board.”

“Right,” Bilbo agreed. 

“You need to word it carefully, though,” Dwalin quickly reminded Bilbo. “If people think our boats are unsafe we’re going to chase off every customer we’ve drawn in.” 

“That’s true,” Dís sighed. “I hope we didn’t just ruin our shot at the best tourist season since ‘93.” 

“Of course we didn’t,” Dwalin disagreed. “We’ll have a day or two of downtime to make sure Thorin is taken care of and then we’ll be right back to business. I mean, tours may be a little longer before they’re going again because I’m still not sure the extent of the repairs that will need to be done since I didn’t even get a chance to look at the engine, but...” 

“And if people ask what happened to Thorin when I post this announcement?” Bilbo questioned. 

“Thorin took a bad fall,” Dís quickly invented. “It was an unfortunate accident. That’s all.” 

Bilbo blinked and nodded, wondering how Thorin would take that.  

As they finished their dinner they fell silent again. Dwalin dozed a little where he sat and Dís continued to text. Bilbo anxiously turned his own phone over in his hands. If he had known he was going to end up in an emergency room waiting room he would have brought a book. He thought about going ahead and posting something to their Facebook page from his phone regarding the accident but he was too mentally exhausted to formulate the right way to word the announcement. 

A half an hour later a nurse finally came out to find them and let them know Thorin was out of surgery. 

“He’s being set up in a room as we speak,” the nurse explained. 

“How long will he have to stay?” Dís asked. 

“He’s going to need to be observed for twenty-four to forty-eight hours,” the nurse replied. “We’ll see how he’s feeling tomorrow.” 

She gave them the exact floor and room number and gave them directions from the waiting room. They thanked her and anxiously made their way to the elevator. The group was silent as they maneuvered through the quiet hospital. 

Hospitals made Bilbo’s skin crawl. He hated them. His last memories of his mother had been in a hospital and the thought made him shudder. Bilbo quickly reminded himself that Thorin would be fine and he’d be home in the next day or two. 

When they arrived at the room, the door was cracked open as the nurse was setting Thorin up in his room. They quietly entered and the nurse greeted them softly. She reminded them that the visiting hours were coming to an end and the hospital only allowed two visitors at a time, but she would allow them in for now since Thorin was just getting settled. 

Dís thanked the nurse before asking a couple more questions about visitation and Bilbo slowly crept into the room and made his way to Thorin’s bedside. Thorin was blearily blinking as he tried to take in his surroundings. His left arm was in in a sling and the same hand had his wrist bandaged up after surgery. His head wound had been bandaged and dressed and honestly, Thorin looked like hell. 

“Hey,” Bilbo greeted him softly. Thorin instantly smiled seeing Bilbo there at his bedside. 

“Bilbo,” Thorin replied, reaching for Bilbo with his unbandaged hand. Bilbo blushed and reached out to meet Thorin’s grasp and he took a seat on the edge of the bed. 

“You scared me to death,” Bilbo admitted as he felt Thorin’s had softly squeeze around his. 

“’M sorry,” Thorin apologized softly. 

“How do you feel?” Bilbo asked with a small smile. 

“Sleepy,” Thorin admitted. 

“The nurse did say you’d still be a little out of it. We won’t keep you up much longer,” Dís promised as she and Dwalin came over to see how Thorin was doing. Thorin looked pleased to see his sister and his cousin there as well. 

“No, I’m glad you’re here,” Thorin commented his eyes fluttering shut for a moment. 

“I told you Bilbo would be right here once you got out of surgery,” Dís commented softly, glancing at their intertwined hands. Bilbo blushed and instinctively thought about removing his hand from Thorin’s, due to the embarrassment. He didn’t want to let go, though. The damage was already done regardless and Bilbo only squeezed Thorin’s hand gently. 

“You did?” Thorin asked, his eyes opening as he looked to his sister. “When was ‘at?”

“You don’t remember do you?” Dís chuckled. “You were furious with me that Bilbo wasn’t with me when we got here and asked where he was about five different times.” 

“Did I?” Thorin frowned and looked between Bilbo and his sister. Dís bit her lip with a smile and nodded. “Oh, sorry,” Thorin apologized quietly. 

“What is the last thing you remember?” Bilbo asked quietly, wondering if Thorin would bring up Smaug now that he was a little more lucid than he was before surgery. Not much, but still… 

Thorin blinked and screwed up his face in concentration. 

“Not a lot,” Thorin muttered. “I remember you. You were there,” Thorin admitted with a small smile directed to Bilbo. Bilbo’s face burned in embarrassment hoping Dís and Dwalin wouldn’t say anything. 

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Bilbo quickly shushed him, his thumb gently rubbing Thorin’s hand. “You can’t remember how you got here?”

“It’s all fuzzy,” Thorin remarked. “I kind of remember. I was out on the water… and suddenly I was  _ in  _ the water… and I had to get back… the boat… the boat wasn’t working very well, it wouldn’t start… then… I...” Thorin tried to piece together what information he could remember. 

“Don’t strain yourself,” Dís told him softly. 

“Well, you’re alive,” Bilbo shrugged. Thorin nodded sleepily. 

“We should get going and let you get some sleep,” Dís wrapped up their conversation. Bilbo loosened his grip on Thorin’s hand.

“No,” Thorin frowned, his hand squeezing around Bilbo’s again and holding on with a steadfast grip. “Don’t.”

“Thorin, you need sleep,” Bilbo chuckled, adjusting his hand so Thorin could continue to hold his hand. “We all need to sleep.” 

“Can’t Bilbo stay?” Thorin protested, looking to his sister for permission. Dís raised her eyebrows and looked at Thorin skeptically. 

“Really? Where is Bilbo going to sleep?” Dís asked. 

“He...He’s got a chair,” Thorin argued, looking over at the one sad looking chair in the room.

“You’re not going to do that to Bilbo,” Dís frowned. “Besides he can’t stay. We’re already bending the rules. I asked and they really only want immediate family visiting you up here.” 

Thorin looked visibly upset. 

“Wait, no. That’s not fair,” Thorin argued. “They can’t do that. Bilbo’s my best friend, he has to be allowed. Tell them he’s my best friend… no, hm, tell them he’s my brother.” 

“No one will believe that,” Bilbo smiled as his heart sputtered pleasantly at Thorin referring to him as ‘his best friend’. “We look nothing alike.” 

“Half-brother, maybe?” Thorin suggested. “Step-brother?”

“Thorin, no, stop,” Bilbo smiled. “It’ll be okay.”

“Just tell them he’s my husband,” Thorin turned back to Dís. “He’s my husband,” Thorin sighed softly. “He can stay. They have to let him stay.” Dís pursed her lips to try to keep from laughing out loud. Bilbo’s heart rate nearly tripled and his face burned in a bright blush.

“That’s more believable than a brother, at least.” Bilbo gave an embarrassed smile. “But, still won’t pass. No ring, dear,” Bilbo teased holding up his free left hand. 

“I’ll buy you a ring,” Thorin quickly offered. “I’ll buy you one. Dís, go buy me a ring to give to Bilbo.” Bilbo looked mortified and Dís merely looked amused. “Wait, where’s my wallet? Where is it?”

“Shh, Thorin, calm down,” Bilbo tried to soothe Thorin as he looked around in confusion.

“Sure, I’ll go buy you a ring,” Dís agreed. “I’m sure they sell those down in the gift shop, don’t they? I’ll perform the wedding service while I’m here too, shall I? Secondary school principals can officiate weddings, can’t they? We can wheel you down to the hospital chapel. Bilbo Baggins will be Bilbo Durinson by the end of the evening so he can stay the night in an uncomfortable chair at your bedside for a night in the hospital.” 

“No,” Thorin shook his head and frowned. “I’ll become Thorin Baggins,” Thorin clarified. Bilbo stared wide-eyed at Thorin before looking up at Dís. “Thorin Baggins...that sounds nice, doesn’t it? Thorin Baggins… _ Thorin Baggins... _ ”

“This is the pain medication, isn’t it?” Bilbo’s face flushed completely, asking Dís and Dwalin. Thorin continued to mutter ‘Thorin Baggins’ with different intonations. 

“I should be recording this,” Dwalin grinned at Bilbo. 

“I’m not kidding!” Thorin protested, seemingly very upset that none of them were taking him seriously. 

“All right,  _ Mister Baggins _ ,” Dís sighed. “You are going to get some sleep. Bilbo and I will be here first thing in the morning, I promise. He’ll be back, first thing.”

“Will I?” Bilbo frowned. “You said they only wanted immediate family here.” 

“Listen, you’re Thorin’s ‘husband,’ apparently. You’re immediate family, right?” Dís assured him.

“Dís, come on,” Bilbo muttered, rolling his eyes. 

“Wait, who’s going to watch the centre?” Thorin frowned in confusion. 

“Oh,  _ now _ you’re worried about the centre?” Dís laughed. 

“Frerin and I will watch the place,” Dwalin assured Thorin. “So you and Bilbo can discuss wedding plans.” 

“Okay, good,” Thorin sighed, his eyes fluttering shut again. “Good.”

“We’ll give you two lovebirds a moment,” Dís told them, leading Dwalin out of the room. Bilbo exhaled a deep sigh once they were alone. 

“You’re ridiculous,” Bilbo smiled. “Absolutely ridiculous. I knew the anesthesia and pain medication made you loopy, but this…” Bilbo trailed off, averting his gaze to look at their intertwined hands. 

“No ‘m not being ridiculous,” Thorin mumbled. “I wanna be Thorin Baggins.” Thorin pouted as he closed his eyes with a heavy sigh. 

“Listen, Thorin, you’re incredibly high on painkillers right now, you don’t even know what you’re saying,” Bilbo started. “If you wake up tomorrow off your pain medication and still want to become Thorin Baggins, I’d be… well,” Bilbo trailed off. “Just get some good rest tonight so you can be on your way to healing. It’s been an incredibly long night and  _ we all _ need to rest.” 

Thorin didn’t respond, his eyes remaining shut. Bilbo sighed and didn’t quite feel like he wanted to leave just yet.

“You really did scare the hell out of me,” Bilbo continued quietly. “For the briefest of moments when I didn’t know the extent of your injuries I almost thought about what would happen if you died. Which is ridiculous. You’re fine. Or you will be, obviously. You’ll be fine.” 

Thorin didn’t respond and his breathing seemed to change a bit and Bilbo assumed he’d fallen asleep.

“Thorin?” Bilbo called gently. He remained quiet and still, his chest rising and falling steadily. 

“Anyway,” Bilbo sighed. “You don’t have life-threatening injuries,” Bilbo laughed softly to himself. “Of course not. I just… it was hard not to think of what could have happened. I honestly don’t know what I would have… I was beside myself thinking I could have lost you, which, again… is quite silly.” 

Bilbo drifted into silence for a little while, his thumb continuing to gently stroke Thorin’s hand and listening to Thorin’s soft snores.

“I couldn’t bear the thought and… well, I still don’t really know how I feel, but… I don’t know...” Bilbo explained. “It all seems ridiculous, but... I think tonight clarified some things for me. Your sister saw how close I was to _ absolutely _ losing it, she probably knows how I feel about you. Everyone’s going to know except for you,” Bilbo sighed. “Anyway, you are...probably asleep,” Bilbo muttered. “Hopefully you’re asleep. I’d be mortified if I knew you were awake for all of that. So...I guess that’s my cue to leave.” 

He looked at Thorin’s peaceful expression with a small sigh. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Bilbo promised as he gently squeezed Thorin’s hand one last time. “Get some good rest,” Bilbo sighed. He got up and quietly left the room, closing the door behind him softly.

“Did you say yes?” Dwalin asked as Bilbo left. 

“What?” Bilbo blinked. 

“The marriage proposal, oh my,  _ God, _ ” Dís smiled. 

“Won’t remember a word of nonsense he said,” Bilbo murmured. 

“You don’t know that,” Dís assured him. “Anyway, I’ve already told the nurses station we’ll be back in the morning.” 

“They’re really okay with me being here?” Bilbo asked. “All joking aside?”

“You can find that I can be very persuasive,” Dís explained with a smile. 

“What, did you bribe them?” Bilbo raised his eyebrows. 

“Don’t be silly,” Dís smiled. “Come on, I’m tired, let’s get home.” 

Dwalin drove them home and Dís sat up in the front seat. Bilbo gladly took the back seat and napped on and off on the way back to Erebor. When they arrived, Dwalin stopped at his home and Dís then drove them back to the bed and breakfast and they exhaustedly dragged themselves inside. Bilbo wanted to immediately go upstairs and go to bed. However, everyone else was still awake and wanting to talk about what happened. 

Even though Dís had conveyed every detail she could through her texts to Frerin, they still wanted to hear the story first hand. Eventually, the questioning came to an end and everyone dispersed to bed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ALL RIGHT. NOW WE'RE GETTING SOMEWHERE MAYBE?? EHEHEHEHEH. The wait for the next chapter should hopefully be much shorter this time. Thanks everyone!


	12. Chapter 12

Bilbo woke the next morning and quickly showered. He was beyond nervous to return to the hospital and see Thorin. He wasn’t sure if it would be better or worse if Thorin remembered anything that had happened that night.

Bilbo sat down before going down to breakfast to write up his post to put up on the Facebook page. Carefully choosing his words he crafted a well thought out notice that wouldn’t evoke any panic and suggested Thorin was just injured in ‘an unfortunate accident’ and it would be at least a couple days to a week before they were fully operational again. He ended the post by saying he would update the page as soon as they were back to giving tours but for now they were not happening, though the centre would remain open. He closed his laptop before heading down to breakfast.

Only Víli and Dís were awake and were already starting on their food. Bilbo picked at his breakfast, hardly feeling like eating with his nerves as frayed as they were. Finally, he and Dís left the house and it was silent for a little while on their way to the hospital.

“You’re nervous,” Dís commented as they drove down the highway.

“No, I’m not,” Bilbo muttered.

“Look, if you’re uncomfortable by Thorin’s…’proposal’, I won’t mention it again,” Dís told him. “Thorin probably doesn’t even remember it anyway.”

“It’s not that,” Bilbo sighed.

“What’s eating at you then?” Dís asked. “I mean, I know it’s not really my business but…”

“No, it’s okay,” Bilbo smiled politely at Dís. He was quiet for a moment, thinking over his words before speaking again. “Do you really think Thorin would… do you think he feels that way? You know, when he’s not completely out of it?”

“I can’t say for sure,” Dís told him. “But if it’s any testimony to how he talks about you to others when he’s _not_ high on pain meds, I’d say he does. But what do I know? I’m just his young, nosy sister.”

“I’m helping him keep the centre open for working for him for free,” Bilbo argued. “I’ve given him money to keep the place open. Of course he ‘loves’ me.”

“Oh, come on, Bilbo. It’s not just that,” Dís assured him.

“I don’t want to mistake gratitude for adoration or even love,” Bilbo explained.

“Have you ever heard how Víli and I got together?” Dís asked.

“No…” Bilbo shook his head.

“We met at university and Víli was an art student, of course. He had a huge photography portfolio project due and his subject or model, or what have you, that he was primarily working with had a death in the family and had to leave campus for a week. Víli, being the idiot he is, had procrastinated a good deal of it till the last minute. Turns out I was the only one he knew that was around on such short notice and didn’t have a pile of homework and studying to do because I had planned accordingly and didn’t save all my final projects and studying till the last minute.” Dís explained. “When we were done I felt we had something and I wanted to ask him out, but all I could think about was that he didn’t feel it like I did. He was only grateful I had volunteered to be his subject and if I’d ask him out and if he said yes he was only doing it out of pity or to try to be nice since I helped him out.”

“What did you do?” Bilbo asked.

“I waited,” Dís told him. “Waited until we were on even ground again. I’d borrowed enough class notes from him, he’d paid for enough coffee and pizza that I no longer felt that _debt_ hanging over me.”

Bilbo hummed thoughtfully.

“I don’t know if this advice will help you at all. Everything you’ve done for Thorin… I mean, I can tell you it’s worth a lot more than a final grade as an undergrad art student,” Dís admitted. “So you probably won’t be able to wait for it to ‘even out’ the way I did. But maybe wait until you feel like you aren’t doing it just to cash in on the assistance you’ve given Thorin the past few months. I don’t know when or how you’ll get there, but just...make sure it feels right to you. Don’t do it just because everyone in Erebor is pressuring you or making betting pools on when you two will get together.”

“Now, hold on,” Bilbo interrupted her. “Betting pools? Are there honestly betting pools? I knew people… well, mostly Bofur, but that’s beside the point… people already insinuate we should be a couple, _but betting pools?_ They have betting pools?”

“Okay, _probably_ wasn’t supposed to tell you about that,” Dís shrugged. “Víli thought it was a bit...vulgar to do so, but it’s honestly just a bit of fun. Think nothing of it.”

“Terrific,” Bilbo sighed.  

“If it makes you uncomfortable, I can ask that they stop, if you’d like?” Dís offered. Bilbo groaned.

“No, let them have their fun,” Bilbo finally decided. “I don’t care. As long as they don’t pester me about it. I mean, I know they already talk behind our backs about us but… whatever.”

“You can have a cut of my winnings if I win anything,” Dís offered hesitantly.

“And what are you betting on?” Bilbo asked curiously.

“Now that wouldn’t be fair to tell you,” Dís protested, but she was smiling broadly. Bilbo had an idea which way she leaned on the matter. He wouldn’t be surprised if news of last night’s ‘marriage proposal’ had already made the rounds and the money was beginning to trade hands.

“Anyway, we’ll see how Thorin is this morning. If you need a moment to talk and I can’t take the hint do you want to come up with a word that will signal that you need me out of there?” Dís asked.

“I don’t think there will be any need for signal words or anything of that sort,” Bilbo rolled his eyes.

“Okay, if you’re positive,” Dís chuckled.

They were silent for a little while longer and Bilbo tried to concentrate on the music playing over the car stereo and put a stop to his overwhelming thoughts. Eventually, Dís took the exit for the hospital and soon they were pulling into the hospital’s visitor parking lot. They both got out of the car and headed towards the entrance, making their way to the unit Thorin was staying in. Before heading to his room they stopped by the nurses’ station to sign in as guests. Dís signed for both of them and Bilbo glanced at her neat handwriting in the visitor’s log.

“‘Bilbo Baggins – relationship to the patient: partner’?” Bilbo hissed after his eyes landed on his name. “Dís, no! You can’t just—”

Dís shushed him and pressed a finger to her lips.

“You’re business partners… kind of,” Dís shrugged. “Close enough.”

“No, that is _not—_ ” Bilbo began to protest.

“Shush, he asked to marry you last night.”

“Oh, my God, no,” Bilbo groaned and Dís stifled her laughter before knocking on the door to Thorin’s room and slowly opening the door.

Thorin was sitting up in bed with a tray pulled up to him and a plate of breakfast food sitting on the table. He had a small plastic cup in his hand, which Bilbo thought looked as if it belonged in a dollhouse in Thorin’s large hand.

“Hey,” Thorin looked up as they walked in. He seemed like he was in much less of a serene state today than he had been last night. In fact, he looked terrible and exhausted with a grimace on his face. Bilbo couldn’t tell if it was because of the pain or because of the food he was reluctantly eating.

“How are you feeling?” Dís asked.

“Like hell,” Thorin muttered. “Feel like I’ve been hit by a bus. I only woke up an hour ago, almost forgot where I was. Hey, who’s watching the centre today if you’re here, Bilbo? Just Frerin? What about the boat tours?”

“Dwalin and Frerin are watching over the place. All tours have been suspended for now,” Bilbo replied. That answered his question about if Thorin remembered the night before or not. “Till we figure out the exact cause of what happened to you last night. Do you have any more thoughts about what could have caused all of this?” Bilbo asked.

Just as Bilbo expected, today’s Thorin was hesitant to delve into any detail lest he sound crazy. He only shrugged with his good shoulder and kept his attention on his food.

“Have they said anything about when you’d be discharged?” Dís asked.

“I think they wanted to wait until you two got here,” Thorin explained. “From what I understand, they want to wait a little longer to observe me but by the sounds of it, they’ll let me go by tomorrow at the latest.”

“That’s good. That’ll be nice to be in your own bed at least.” Dís commented as she set her bag down.

“And my own food,” Thorin grimaced down at the watery, rubbery eggs.

“I’m going to go see what I can do about getting another chair in here. You can go ahead and take that one, Bilbo,” Dís motioned to the chair that Thorin had suggested that Bilbo sleep in the night before. Bilbo rolled his eyes and pulled the chair up beside Thorin’s bedside.

“Did you get some good rest last night then?” Bilbo asked as he settled in, absently watching the television that was on a random morning news program.

“Well, I felt like I was waking from the dead this morning so I suppose so,” Thorin shrugged. “Can you help me move the tray out of the way?” Thorin asked. “I’m done trying to eat.”

Bilbo jumped up and moved the rolling tray away from Thorin’s lap and Thorin reclined in bed.

“God, I don’t know what we’re going to do about the centre and tours now,” Thorin muttered once he relaxed back on the bed.

“Don’t stress,” Bilbo assured him. “You’re not helping yourself if you do. We’ll figure something out.”

“I can’t believe I screwed up what was supposed to be our best year yet,” Thorin sighed. “We’ll end up losing all the money we’ve made so far and I’ll have to sell the place and you’ll end up going back the the Shire, oh, _God_ ,” Thorin panicked.

“Don’t say that. You haven’t screwed anything up,” Bilbo sighed.

“We don’t even have a boat to do tours anymore!”

“Oh, stop,” Bilbo interrupted him. “We have the boat, it’s not as if it’s at the bottom of the lake. Dwalin said it’ll need some repairs but we can handle it. Besides, you’re doing yourself no favors by getting yourself all worked up.” Bilbo scolded him. “I told you, we’ll figure something out.”

“You’re not putting any more money into the centre,” Thorin refused quickly.

“I didn’t say that either,” Bilbo rolled his eyes. “Right now, your priority is your health, you can worry about the centre when you’re better.”

Dís entered the room pushing in a chair in front of her and bringing it to the corner of the room before plopping down on it. Thorin pursed his lips and leaned back again, his eyes fluttered closed, resting for a moment. Dís and Bilbo continued to watch the news program before Bilbo finally pulled out his book from the bag he had packed for that day. He knew he’d be sitting around longer than he had the day before, but this time he was prepared.

Thorin dozed on and off through the day, and Dís enjoyed watching the mindless television programs on low volume while Bilbo read his book. Finally, Dís got up and decided to go on a walk around and perhaps go check out the hospital cafeteria.

“Good luck finding anything good,” Thorin mumbled as Dís got up to go.

“Come on, not all hospital food is that bad. Anything you want me to bring back? Either of you?” Dís asked.

“Maybe if they have a yogurt or something, but if not don’t worry about it,” Bilbo replied.

“I’m good,” Thorin shook his head. “I can order my lunch up here when I need to.”

“All right, I’ll be back soon. Text me if anything happens,” Dís told them before disappearing out of the room.

Bilbo and Thorin remained silent and Bilbo returned to his book. Thorin closed his eyes once again and it was several minutes before one of the nurses came in to take Thorin’s vital signs. Thorin’s eyes flitted open upon hearing the door open. The young nurse smiled and greeted the both of them warmly.

Once she finished, she informed them the doctor assigned to Thorin would be in shortly to discuss what needed to be done next.

“Thank you,” Bilbo smiled, internally beginning to panic. He pulled out his phone and immediately texted Dís.

 **Bilbo** **  
** _Dr will be in soon if you want to come back_

“Surprised they’re really all right with you being here,” Thorin commented shortly. “Isn’t there an… immediate family thing?” Bilbo sighed wondering if the doctor or nurses would make any comment about their supposed relationship status and decided he would warn Thorin before finding out from someone else that he and Bilbo were supposedly married.

“Well, about that,” Bilbo nervously started. “Dís kind of signed me in this morning as your… er… partner,” Bilbo explained. “To avoid any difficulties with the ‘immediate family’ visitor policy. I told her not to, but...” Bilbo trailed off and Thorin chuckled.

“Oh, yeah. Right. I guess I kind of figured it was something like that when the nurse told me this morning that my sister and my partner were coming in soon. I knew she probably didn’t mean business partner,” Thorin chuckled. “Hold on, wait,” Thorin frowned. “If she signed you in this morning that way...the nurse said that before you two came in...”

“Well, she might have told them that last night,” Bilbo shrugged. “You… kind of… proposed to marry me last night… erm,” Bilbo avoided Thorin’s gaze.

“What?” Thorin started. When Bilbo finally chanced a look over to Thorin, his face was burning a bright red as he stared at the foot of the bed trying to recall any memories from the night before.

“Ah, it was only because you wanted them to allow me to stay the night here with you in the hospital,” Bilbo continued, as he felt his own blush creeping up his cheeks.

“Oh...” Thorin sighed. “Yes… right, I think I remember that now.” Thorin furrowed his brows in concentration. “I’m so sorry about that, Bilbo,” Thorin apologized. “I didn’t know what I was saying and—”

“Don’t worry about it. It was actually quite sweet,” Bilbo smiled. “I’ve never been proposed to before. I suppose it wasn’t the most romantic, what with you laying in a hospital bed, drugged out of your mind, but it was still quite endearing.”

“On the contrary, I think many people would consider that romantic,” Thorin chuckled softly. “Deathbed confession, if you will.”

“Don’t even joke,” Bilbo chastised. “For a moment, I honestly thought you might.”

“What?” Thorin sat up a little and looked at Bilbo with confusion. “That I might die? Bilbo, I had a broken wrist, a minor head injury, and some bruised ribs, certainly nothing to fret over.”

“Oh, there was plenty to fret over,” Bilbo argued. “Could have broken your neck or…” Bilbo trailed off as he glanced down at his phone which notified him that he received a new text from Dís.

 **Dís** **  
** _I think you can handle it seeing as you’re his husband :)_

 **Bilbo** **  
** _Dís, please._

“I’ll be fine, Bilbo. Is Dís coming back up for the doctor’s visit?” Thorin asked.

“I’m trying to get her to. She’s saying I can handle it since I’m supposedly your husband. I swear they’re going to figure it out and I’m going to get in a lot of trouble,” Bilbo muttered.

“Course you’re not,” Thorin chuckled. “I’m sure it’s just concerning patient privacy and _I’m_ certainly not concerned that you’re infringing on my privacy.”

Bilbo pursed his lips wondering if Thorin realized how much they really had basically become domestic partners over the past couple months. They spent all their time together, shared meals together, and were very comfortable with each other, which was a sensation that Bilbo wasn’t altogether familiar with.

“And I sure hope they don’t consider you a threat to any of the other patients here,” Thorin continued. “I mean, look at you.” Thorin glanced over Bilbo with a smug smile.

“I don’t even know what that’s supposed to mean,” Bilbo huffed with a small smile.

“It means you look like the most pleasant man, who wears the softest cardigans and reads...cheap paperback novels.” Thorin glanced at the book in Bilbo’s lap. “A real security threat, hm?”

“I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not,” Bilbo blushed.

“It’s meant as a compliment,” Thorin sighed softly. “Anyway, I supposedly asked for you five times before I went into surgery if I remember what Dís told me correctly,” Thorin continued. Bilbo smiled to himself. _So Thorin remembered_ that _, did he?_ His memories must have started to return to him from the night before.

“Yes… yes, apparently you did,” Bilbo nodded.

“I think there should be no problem believing you’re my husband,” Thorin said and Bilbo continued to blush profusely, his stomach twisting not unpleasantly at Thorin’s words. “Continuity of the story checks out, at least.”

“Except for the lack of a ring,” Bilbo chuckled, waving his left hand.

“Oh,” Thorin muttered. “Just… er, you could say you lost it.”

“Did you lose your wedding ring too, dear?” Bilbo nodded to Thorin’s hand.

“I...I don’t usually work with my wedding ring on for fear of losing it,” Thorin invented. “So naturally it’s back at home.” Bilbo sighed and rolled his eyes. “Or maybe we’re just one of those couples who doesn’t wear jewelry.” Thorin mused. “It’s none of their business anyway if they want to poke their nose into our false relationship.”

Bilbo snorted in amusement and Dís finally came back into the room and handed Bilbo a yogurt she had picked up at the cafeteria.

“Oh, thank you,” Bilbo smiled. “How much was it?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Dís shrugged. “The doctor come in yet?”

“No,” Bilbo shook his head and before Dís could reply the door to Thorin’s room opened once more and the doctor that had attended to Thorin the night before stepped inside.

“Oh, perfect timing then,” Dís remarked.

“Good afternoon,” the doctor greeted. He started by reviewing Thorin’s chart and his status and began reviewing it with Dís and Bilbo. He explained that Thorin would most likely be discharged the next day. He went over a few symptoms that they should look for that would be any telling signs of a worse concussion than they thought. The doctor went on to explain what Thorin should expect during the healing process and when he’d need a follow-up appointment. He also suggested a few physical therapists and gave him a few sheets with some physical therapy exercises to start with as he healed.

They thanked the doctor and just like that he was gone.

“Well, you guys don’t have to stick around all night on my behalf since it’s clear I’m not going to be discharged tonight,” Thorin sighed after the door closed again.

“Are you sure? We can stick around until dinner at least,” Dís offered. “You were so eager to have us stay the other night. Or at least you were eager to have Bilbo stay.” Dís chuckled quietly to herself.

“Yes, but I’m… I know it’s a long drive back and I’m probably just going to sleep the rest of the day,” Thorin shrugged with his good shoulder. “I can manage without Bilbo tonight and I promise, no more marriage proposals. We can postpone the wedding,” Thorin smiled warmly at Bilbo who blushed as his stomach continued to tie itself in knots.

“Oh,” Dís glanced between Bilbo and Thorin. “You remembered.”

“I remembered,” Thorin nodded. “I’m _so_ glad I remember making a complete fool of myself.”

“Nonsense,” Bilbo chuckled. “But before we do go,” Bilbo rummaged in his bag for a few of his other books he’d packed to bring. “I brought a few of my mother’s books for you to read. I mean I’m not sure if you’re up to reading, but I figured if you had to stay another night you might want something to preoccupy yourself. I’ll leave them with you and you can decide what you’d want to read...if you feel up to reading, that is.”

“What’s this?” Dís asked curiously.

“Bilbo’s mother was an author,” Thorin explained as he picked up the book on top of the stack. It looked like a fantasy of some kind. With the one hand that wasn’t in the sling, he opened it up to the title page and flipped through a few more pages. His eyes landed on the dedication page which read, ‘ _For my best friend and partner in life, Bungo, as well as my brave little adventurer, Bilbo. My own greatest adventure has been you. I hope that one day you’ll find a grand adventure of your own.’_ Thorin smiled softly at the dedication.

“That one is one of my favorites,” Bilbo smiled fondly at Thorin looking through the book. “I think she was quite inspired by our trip up here. It’s about a dragon that’s only supposed to be a myth. You can see where she might have been influenced.”

Thorin thumbed back to the copyright page to see the year published was 1981, a couple years after the Bagginses first visit to Erebor.

“I think I know which one I’ll start with, then,” Thorin explained as he closed the book. “Thank you.”

“Good choice,” Bilbo smiled as he put the other books away and Dís and Bilbo slowly got ready to go. They bid Thorin goodbye, as he looked like he was ready to nap, and left the room quietly.

“Did...anything happen while I was away?” Dís asked as they walked down the hallways to the elevators.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Bilbo asked. _“‘Did anything happen?’”_

“You know perfectly well, what I mean,” Dís rolled her eyes. “He said, ‘We can postpone the wedding,’ as if you two _are_ going to actually tie the knot one day.” The elevator finally opened and let them in. “I just thought… maybe something had happened.”

Bilbo pressed the correct button and the lift jolted into motion.

“He didn’t _actually_ propose the twenty minutes you were gone, Dís. Don’t read into it,” Bilbo sighed. “We were only teasing one another. I’m starting to suspect there was a reason you left the room to go find the cafeteria and wander the hospital. Who goes and wanders around a hospital?”

“I’m allowed to go stretch my legs without an ulterior motive, Mister Baggins,” Dís offered defensively. Bilbo gave a skeptical hum as the elevator opened once again and they stepped into the lobby.

“Whatever the case, we’re only friends and nothing more,” Bilbo argued.

“All right, keep trying to tell yourself that,” Dís muttered as they left the hospital and headed towards the parking lot to find the car. Bilbo gave a defeated sigh.

**x**

The next day, Bilbo and Dís arrived a little later in the morning to find Thorin napping with Bilbo’s book open in his lap. Bilbo couldn’t help but smile as Thorin began to wake, hearing them enter the room.

“Didn’t mean to wake you,” Dís remarked as she set down her things in the chair she had brought in the day before. “Looked like you were getting some good rest.”

Thorin only grumbled sleepily in response.

The day passed by slowly and eventually, the doctor came in to assess Thorin’s recovery and finally give the orders for Thorin to be discharged. A little while after that, one of the nurses brought in the discharge papers. She carefully removed the IV that was attached to Thorin’s arm that was not in the sling and unattached the pulse tracker from his finger.

“You know I thought I recognized the name Durinson,” the nurse commented as she worked through the final chart. “You’re the one who runs the thing up in Erebor right?”

“Oh, erm, yes,” Thorin nodded.

“Saw the both of you on the news a couple months ago, and it reminded me of the times my family and I used to go up there,” the nurse smiled. “We spent so many summers up there… I’d like to come up again sometime.”

“Oh, that’d be terrific,” Bilbo smiled. “We’re glad to hear it.”

“I don’t mean to be nosy, but I couldn’t help but notice that Mr. Baggins is logged into the visitor’s log as your partner.”

Dís’ eyes widened in horror looking between Bilbo and Thorin, panicking. She didn’t think anyone would say anything, let alone anyone remembering that they were on the local news several months ago! Bilbo gave her the same startled glance.  

“Yes,” Thorin confirmed brusquely.

“I didn’t realize you two were… I mean, it’s funny is all, with you running the centre and him bein’ an expert. Is that how the two of you met?” The nurse asked, making small talk.

“Oh, we actually met when we were children,” Thorin explained casually. “Bilbo’s family came up to Erebor a couple times, which in turn spurred Bilbo to pursue the topic academically. We didn’t know each other very well back then or even when Bilbo came to Erebor for research. Other than that it’s been rather as you’d expect. It’s only been somewhat recently that he’s found me again, pursuing a job working in his field and all and coming to work in Erebor, and I’ve been all the better for it.” Thorin smiled softly at Bilbo who was stunned into silence, staring unbelievingly at Thorin. “We just passed our one year marriage anniversary actually,” Thorin continued as he turned back to the nurse. “But we’ve been together… oh, how many years has it been now? Three years now, I think.”

“You know, my mother and father were the same way. Grew up on the same street playing together and they met years later at university again. Anyway, congratulations on your anniversary,” the nurse smiled. “All right, I’m going to go file this paperwork and I’ll send someone up with a wheelchair and we’ll get you out of here.”

“Thank you,” Thorin smiled as he sat up and ran a hand through his hair.

“Thorin!” Bilbo exclaimed as soon as the nurse was out of the room. Thorin turned and flashed a smile at Bilbo.

“What?” Thorin questioned, innocently.

“Oh, my God,” Dís grinned. “Best performance of the year goes to Thorin Durinson.”

“Did you like that?” Thorin asked, proudly looking between his sister and Bilbo.

“Why on earth did you do that?” Bilbo gave Thorin a bashful smile.

“Couldn’t let you get caught fraudulently visiting me,” Thorin told him. “Figure I’d go with the convenient lie Dís came up with.” Thorin raised his eyebrows at his sister.

“You almost over did it,” Dís chastised. “Give the over-the-top sappy rom-com lines a rest. Besides, it wasn’t me!” Dís smothered her laughter. “ _You’re_ the one who wanted to marry him the other night!”

“Perhaps we need to leave you checked in here for another night to keep an eye on that concussion of yours,” Bilbo suggested teasingly. “Reciting poetry like that, I swear, Thorin…”

“No, you are taking me home, dearest husband,” Thorin told Bilbo as he picked up the extra pair of clothes laying on the end of the bed that Dís had packed for him. He got up and headed to the bathroom to change out of the hospital gown. As soon as the bathroom door closed behind him. Dís and Bilbo stared at each other in shock for a moment.

“I can’t believe the nurse asked…”Dís muttered. “I can’t believe he went where he did with it. He _invented_ a whole relationship history for you.” Dís chuckled quietly. “And the overly sweet things...he’s never been one for romance like that. I wonder where he picked it up. I swear if I find romance novels in his flat he’s never going to hear the end of it. He’s never going to hear the end of _this!”_ Dís exclaimed.

“You do realize the bathroom isn’t soundproof and I can hear everything you’re saying, don’t you?” Thorin’s muffled voice came from the bathroom. “And just so you know, I have no romance novels stashed under my mattress or anything like that.”

“That sounds oddly specific,” Dís retorted. “Note to self, check under Thorin’s mattress for romance novels, where he probably stashes them like a teenage boy stashes porn magazines.”

“Dís, I swear to God…” Thorin trailed off. They chuckled to themselves as they got their things together and waited for Thorin to finish dressing.

“D-Do you need help?” Bilbo called when it seemed like Thorin was taking ages to get dressed. Though, Bilbo realized it was probably not very easy trying to get dressed with one hand and trying to avoid hurting himself even more.

“Ah,” Thorin’s quiet muffled voice replied.

“Do you need something else to wear? I thought the flannel would be easy because it’s not over your head…” Dís muttered as she looked through the bag she had brought. “I might have a t-shirt in here though if it’s easier.”

“No, I’m just… ah, having a hard time with the buttons,” Thorin explained.

“Come out here and I can do them for you,” Dís sighed. Finally, Thorin emerged from the bathroom with his flannel shirt hanging open and the hospital gown in hand.  Dís got up and pulled the shirt closed, doing up the buttons to the shirt. “Kind of like playing dress up when we were younger,” Dís remarked as she finished. Thorin gave a bashful smile and thanked her as he turned away.

Thorin sat down on the bed and slipped on the shoes that Dís had brought, with no laces so Thorin wouldn’t have to worry about struggling to tie them.  

Soon the same nurse returned with a wheelchair to escort Thorin down to the hospital entrance. Bilbo and Dís followed alongside them as they made their way down to the main atrium of the hospital. Dís went to pull the car up.

When Dís’ car came into view and Thorin stood from the wheelchair, Bilbo’s hand went to Thorin’s lower back to support him. Dís got out and they decided Thorin would sit in the backseat where the seatbelt wouldn’t cross his injured collarbone. Bilbo jumped into the passenger seat as Dís got into the driver’s side seat and glanced in her rearview mirror before pulling away from the hospital. It was a quiet ride back to Erebor. Bilbo settled into his seat and watched as the scenery passed by. The highway ran parallel to the Long Lake and the late afternoon light reflected off the surface beautifully. As they pulled off the highway towards Erebor Dís glanced at the rearview mirror and noticed Thorin sleeping.

“Probably should just take him straight home,” Dís explained. “He still should eat dinner though. Maybe I’ll see if Bombur has any leftovers at the bed and breakfast I can bring over.”

“I can make him something,” Bilbo volunteered. “I don't know what he has on hand but I could probably come up with something.”

“If you’re sure. I should still stay the night just to make sure he’s okay for tonight,” Dís explained.

“Oh, I can stay with him… it’s no problem. You can go back to the bed and breakfast and spend time with your family,” Bilbo offered.

“What good husband you are,” Dís snickered and Bilbo rolled his eyes. “If you’re sure.” Dís shrugged. “I imagine the boys and the others will want to see him but we'll save it till tomorrow. He looks beat.” Dís observed.

They pulled up in front of the centre and got out. Dís opened Thorin's side door and gently roused him.

“We're home,” she told him softly. “We're going to get you upstairs and Bilbo is going to cook you some dinner before you go to bed for the night.”

“Oh, good,” Thorin commented sleepily.

Bilbo had already unlocked the front door and Dís escorted her brother inside. As they made it to the top of the stairs Dís looked around and sighed at the state of her brother's apartment. “Let me know if you need any extra ingredients I can snatch from Bombur’s pantry.”

“Will do. Thank you, Dís,” Bilbo nodded as she bid them goodbye and left the apartment.

“Thank you, Bilbo,” Dís waved as she headed back down the stairs. Thorin had taken a seat on the sofa, his eyes dropping again.

“All right, let’s see what you have so I can make you something quick and you can get to bed,” Bilbo muttered as he looked through Thorin’s cabinets.

He was able to find some leftover uncooked pasta and a can of pasta sauce. Bilbo wondered if that was still left over from when Thorin had invited him over all those months ago. Thorin really didn’t do much cooking for himself, did he?

“Either way, that’ll do,” Bilbo muttered to himself as he pulled out the things he needed to get started cooking. Digging around in Thorin’s cabinets he was able to find a few spices and herbs to add to the sauce. He let the pasta boil and he idly stirred the sauce in the other pot. It was simple, but he supposed Thorin didn’t need anything elaborate.

“You doing all right, Thorin?” Bilbo called out as he realized it had been very quiet for a while.

“Fine,” Thorin replied.

“I’m nearly done,” Bilbo assured him. There was no other response from Thorin and Bilbo continued to work. He found a strainer and once the pasta had finished cooking.

At last, he found bowls and served up the quick meal and placed a fork in each bowl. Bilbo glanced at Thorin’s spot on the couch and how tired he looked.

“Do you want to eat at the table or over there on the sofa?” Bilbo asked softly.

“Here,” Thorin mumbled. Bilbo brought Thorin the bowl with a glass of water and set it on the side table before handing Thorin his meal. Bilbo went and retrieved his own bowl of pasta before coming over and taking a seat beside Thorin.

“Were you able to find everything you needed?” Thorin asked.

“Enough to make us dinner,” Bilbo replied with a smile. “Anyway, you’ll be able to take your pain medication here in another half an hour or so. Then hopefully you’ll be able to sleep all right,” Bilbo told him as he dug into his bowl of pasta. “I’ll stay out on your sofa tonight if that’s okay with you.”

“Of course,” Thorin nodded. “I don’t know why you need to stay though.”

“The doctor said to keep an eye on you overnight,” Bilbo explained with a small shrug.

“You don’t have to do that, Bilbo. I’ll be fine,” Thorin assured him. Bilbo frowned at him.

“You don’t know that,” Bilbo shook his head. “You know I'd never forgive myself if something happened and I wasn't here. Besides, I already told Dís I would. Better safe than sorry,” Bilbo chastised him.

“All right,” Thorin sighed. “If you want to grab one of my t-shirts to sleep in, they’re in the top drawer of my dresser. Extra bedding is in the linen closet in the bathroom.”

“Thanks,” Bilbo nodded with a small smile.

They finished up their meal and Bilbo took their dishes back to the kitchen. He then found the bottle of the pain meds Thorin had been prescribed in the hospital and brought Thorin the correct dosage. Thorin took the pills in the hand that was not bandaged up and popped them into his mouth before picking up his glass of water from the side table.

“Thank you,” Thorin mumbled.

“Do you need help getting ready for bed?” Bilbo asked hesitantly.

“I’m just going to sleep in this,” Thorin referenced the comfortable clothing Dís had packed him for being discharged.

“Okay, ready for bed then?” Bilbo looked at him expectantly. Thorin gave a small grunt in response. “Come on, we’ll get you settled.”

“I don’t need you to…” Thorin trailed off.

“All right then, I’m going to go snag a shirt from your room and get ready for bed myself if you don’t need my help,” Bilbo decided and Thorin nodded. Bilbo turned and headed for Thorin’s room.

Even though Thorin had given him express permission he felt a little like he was invading Thorin’s privacy by digging around in his dresser. Bilbo opened the drawer quickly and grabbed one of the first shirts on top and retreated to the bathroom. As he pulled off his own shirt to wear Thorin’s he realized he didn’t have any pajama pants or sweats and he’d look and feel absolutely absurd if he wore his regular trousers with Thorin’s shirt to bed. He recalled the sweats he had worn when he stayed the night during the storm that had stranded him in the centre for the night. He knew Thorin wouldn’t have any sweats that would fit him anyway. He supposed he could run over to the bed and breakfast to grab a change of clothes, but he really didn’t want to leave Thorin alone, even if it was for a few moments.

He groaned and shed his trousers reluctantly before he washed his face and realized he didn’t have a toothbrush. Tomorrow he’d have to go to the bed and breakfast and get his things if he intended to stay another night to make sure Thorin would be all right.

Bilbo sighed glancing down at the shirt he was wearing and he felt like he looked like a mess in Thorin’s shirt. The shirt went past his upper thighs almost down to his knees and almost completely covered his boxers, which made him appear as if he’d ditched his pants altogether. Bilbo helplessly thought about the supposed betting pools built around him and Thorin. If only they knew. He’s sure there would money trading hands all over the place.

After pulling out the extra bedding from the linen closet, Bilbo folded his clothes neatly and stacked them on the bedding, staring at the bathroom door for a moment. He tried to summon his courage to leave the bathroom and not be totally embarrassed. Thorin had already taken his pain medication so Bilbo was sure that was beginning to kick in and Thorin wouldn’t even realize. Tomorrow he’d wake up before Thorin and quickly change back into his regular clothes to go over to the bed and breakfast.

Nodding to himself he finally pulled open the bathroom door to find Thorin slowly trying to figure out the best way for him to get into bed and rest without hurting himself. Thorin stopped and looked up when he saw Bilbo in the bathroom doorway.

“I’m glad you found something comfortable,” Thorin mumbled with a warm, tired smile on his face and Bilbo felt his face begin to burn.

“Shut up,” Bilbo rolled his eyes. “Do you want help?”

“I’ve almost got it,” Thorin muttered as he tried to puff his pillow up enough to support him during the night. “I hadn’t thought how difficult sleeping with a broken collarbone would be. The hospital was easier because they have the beds that sit up, but…” Thorin trailed off.

“There’s gotta be something we can use to prop you up,” Bilbo muttered. Eventually, Bilbo took his sheets and clothes out to the main room and returned with a throw blanket, which they folded and adjusted against the headboard and leaned Thorin’s pillow against it.

“Good enough,” Thorin decided as he got into bed.

“Anything else you need?” Bilbo asked. Thorin shook his head as he got comfortable in his bed.

“All right, well get some good rest,” Bilbo told him. “I'll be here out on the sofa if you need me.”

“Goodnight, Bilbo,” Thorin sighed softly.

Bilbo returned to the living area and made his way back to the kitchen to wash up the dishes from their dinner. There were a few extra dishes in the sink and Bilbo decided to do those too, seeing as Thorin didn't have full use of both of his hands at the moment and wouldn't be able to do dishes for a while.

Once the dishes were done, Bilbo turned towards the couch and made up his bed. It wasn’t long before Bilbo curled up on the couch and fell fast asleep.

**x**

Bilbo woke up to a loud sound and a cry of pain.

 _“Fuck!”_ Bilbo heard Thorin in the next room. Bilbo jumped up and stumbled along, feeling his way towards Thorin’s room.

“Thorin,” Bilbo called groggily. Finally, Bilbo found his way to Thorin’s room and flipped the light on. “Thorin, are you all right?”

“No,” Thorin groaned. “Help me sit up.”

Bilbo made his way over to the bed and anxiously wrung his hands, not sure where it would be okay to touch Thorin without hurting him. Finally, Thorin reached out his uninjured hand and Bilbo grabbed his hand and tried to steady himself as Thorin pulled. He let out another grunt of pain.

“God, Thorin,” Bilbo mumbled.

“I can’t sleep here,” Thorin grumbled. “I move an inch and everything hurts.”

“Do you want to come out and sit on the couch?” Bilbo offered. “What time is it? _Jesus_ , two forty-five,” Bilbo mumbled. “Well, you could definitely take another dose of your pain medication. Come on.” Bilbo gently guided Thorin out of his room.

“Just to the table,” Thorin muttered. Bilbo stopped and allowed Thorin to sit at the table. He went to fill a glass with water and found Thorin’s prescription medication.

“How long did they say it was going to take for me to get back to normal?” Thorin muttered, slowly reaching for the medication.

“Several weeks at the very least,” Bilbo replied softly.

“Oh, I’m not going to sleep for the next three weeks,” Thorin groaned.

“Stop that,” Bilbo snapped. “You just need to find a comfortable way to sleep. I’m sure there’s someway you can lay that will keep you from waking up from your pain.”

“I don’t know if it’s possible,” Thorin admitted. “Fuck, it hurts,” Thorin groaned. Bilbo sighed.

“I know.” Bilbo pulled his chair closer to Thorin’s seat. He reached out and soothingly rubbed Thorin’s back. They sat in silence for a little while as Thorin rested his forehead against his uninjured hand.

“All right,” Thorin sighed. “I’m starting to feel drowsy.”

“Do you want to try sleeping on the sofa or your armchair? You might be able to prop yourself up so you don’t injure yourself while you sleep.”

Thorin nodded as he slowly got up and Bilbo went to steady him. Leading him over to the reclining armchair and helped to lower him gently into the chair.

“I’ll get you a blanket,” Bilbo told him before disappearing into Thorin’s room. He debated about just grabbing the throw they had used to prop Thorin up but Bilbo didn’t think it’d be very comfortable to sleep with only a light throw. He couldn’t find a heavier blanket in the linen closet so he just pulled the comforter from Thorin’s bed and returned to the small living area. Thorin chuckled softly as Bilbo brought him the entire duvet.

“Thank you,” Thorin smiled.

“Of course,” Bilbo nodded. “Are you comfortable?”

“Better,” Thorin nodded. “The pain medication is definitely kicking in.”

“Good,” Bilbo smiled. “I hope you’re able to get some good sleep.” Thorin hummed quietly and Bilbo settled back onto the couch and soon Thorin’s soft snores filled the room. Bilbo smiled to himself and didn’t have any trouble falling back asleep to the sound of Thorin’s snores.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh, who ordered the fake married trope with a side of physical hurt/comfort? Your order's up. :D (I'm so sorry Thorin, you'll heal, I promise.)


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully we'll get back to a more regular schedule with these chapters since I am officially graduated!! (Now comes to job hunt, but I'd much rather focus on writing...) Enjoy, everyone!

Bilbo’s eyes felt heavy, and he fought to wake up when he heard a woman’s voice quietly talking. 

“Bilbo,” it called. “Bilbo, it’s time for the centre to be open. You’re lucky Dwalin has an extra set of keys to the place.”

Bilbo jumped awake and saw Dís crouching near the sofa to address him. 

“That’s one of Erebor’s old souvenir shirts, I mean, like, really old,” Dís remarked. Bilbo frowned at her, trying to figure out what she was saying. “Wait… is that one of Thorin’s?” she smiled as he sleepily blinked at her. 

“Oh,” Bilbo glanced down and realized for the first time that it was indeed an old souvenir shirt that had a silhouette of what Smaug supposedly looked like with the caption underneath that said, ‘Smaug lives.’ Underneath that was smaller text ‘Long Lake, Erebor.’ 

“Erm, yeah. I didn’t have anything to sleep in last night,” Bilbo explained. 

“I could have brought you something if you had just called,” Dís offered. 

“I-It’s fine. We’ve done this in the past,” Bilbo admitted groggily. His brain was slow to process anything after waking up, but he quickly realized what the statement had implied. “I-I only mean that a couple of months ago there was a bad storm and the power went out, and Thorin didn’t want me to try to get back to the bed and breakfast and he–” Bilbo quickly rambled. 

“You don’t have to explain yourself,” Dís assured him. “I understand. Did he do okay last night?” Dís asked softly.

“Oh...no, he...he woke up at like two something in pain...that’s when he moved out here to sleep in the chair. I can’t imagine it’s very comfortable to sleep with a broken collar bone and bruised ribs,” Bilbo explained. 

“No wonder you two are tired,” Dís muttered. “Don’t worry about the centre, Dwalin, Frerin and the boys are watching over it today. Still no tours but we can still entertain visitors.” 

“No doubt when Thorin wakes up he’ll want to be down there,” Bilbo muttered. 

“He needs to rest,” Dís sighed. “I wonder if being here will be a distraction. Perhaps you could go over to the bed and breakfast to rest for the day.” 

“I don’t think he’ll be wanting to do much moving, if he’s in any kind of state like he was last night,” Bilbo told her. 

“If you need anything you have my number and Dwalin and Frerin are going to be right downstairs if you need anything more immediate,” Dís told him. “I’m going into Dale to pick up Víli at the train station. He decided last minute to come earlier than we anticipated. He wanted to be here to help with him,” Dís nodded to her brother still fast asleep in his armchair, “and the centre now that we’re down a boat. Dwalin was taking a look at the damages on it before the centre opened this morning and he said it’s not looking good… said something about the engine being fried, I think. He might be able to do some makeshift repairs, but it won’t be easy to get it back up to the safety standards to take guests. Víli thinks he can help work on the boat too, but to be honest, I’m handier than he is,” Dís smiled proudly. 

Bilbo sighed and gave Dís a small smile in return.  

“Good, okay,” Bilbo muttered as he was still attempting to wake up. “I’ll let you know if anything happens,” Bilbo assured her. 

“Go back to sleep if you’d like,” Dís chuckled waving goodbye. Bilbo hummed in response and laid back down with a sigh. He blinked lazily in the mid-morning sun, his eyelids drooping shut again. He focused on Thorin’s steady breathing indicating he was still fast asleep. Bilbo was glad Thorin was able to get some rest. Finally, he opened his eyes and got up and moved to the kitchen. He opened Thorin’s fridge and sighed at the lack of food within. At least there were still a few eggs, left and a small amount of milk and Bilbo decided to fry up some eggs for their breakfast. Bilbo tried to stay somewhat quiet as he worked but the sounds of breakfast being made slowly roused Thorin. 

“Morning,” Bilbo called, looking over his shoulder. “How are you feeling?” Bilbo asked after Thorin didn’t respond. Thorin merely groaned in response. “I’m making breakfast.” 

“Thanks,” Thorin mumbled. “I think I’m going to need more of the pain medication.” 

“God, I hope you’ll be okay,” Bilbo muttered as he put the spatula down for a moment and reached for the bottle of pills again and found a glass to fill with water. 

“I’ll be fine,” Thorin assured Bilbo. 

“I mean fine without pain pills,” Bilbo pursed his lips. 

“Did you, uh… want me to find you sweatpants or something?” Thorin asked with a small smile glancing down at Bilbo’s bare legs. Bilbo avoided Thorin’s gaze when Thorin looked back up at Bilbo. 

“Just take your damn pills,” Bilbo muttered. 

“What time is it?” Thorin asked after swallowing the pills Bilbo gave him. 

“About nine thirty,” Bilbo told him as took the glass and hurried back over to the pan. 

“Nine thirty?” Thorin furrowed his brows. “Who’s downstairs minding the centre? Don’t tell me we’re staying closed because I can’t leave my apartment and I have to have you up here taking care of me.”

“No, Thorin. Your entire family is here,  _ of course  _ we have someone down there minding the centre. Dwalin, Frerin, Fíli, and Kíli are downstairs. We’re not doing any tours today though,” Bilbo explained as he pulled down a few bowls and scooped the scrambled eggs into them and turned off the oven top. “Dís went to go pick Víli up from the train station.”

“I didn’t think he was coming for another two weeks,” Thorin frowned.

“It sounds like he decided to get here early because of your accident,” Bilbo continued. 

“Oh, I didn’t… I mean I hope that he and Frerin can manage. I don’t mean to inconvenience anyone.”

“Why do you immediately think that you’re inconveniencing anyone?” Bilbo sighed. “He wanted to come. I’m sure he made his arrangements to take care of their business.”

He brought the bowl over to Thorin and handed it to him. Thorin mumbled a quiet thanks and Bilbo took a seat back on the sofa with his own plate of eggs. 

Just as Bilbo was finishing his own bowl of eggs, someone was at the door knocking. 

“Yeah?” Thorin called from the armchair. The door opened revealing Dwalin on the other side. He opened his mouth to say something but shut it when he spotted Bilbo on the sofa in nothing but one of Thorin’s shirts and his underwear. 

Bilbo realized why Dwalin had given pause and he hastily pulled his bedding over his lap in embarrassment. 

“Well, isn’t this the most cliched ‘morning after’ scene I’ve ever seen,” Dwalin remarked. 

“Dwalin, I literally have three bruised ribs, one broken rib, a broken collarbone and a broken wrist,” Thorin snapped before Bilbo could say anything. “I’m not in the mood for your jokes. What is it?” 

“It’s actually Bilbo I need to speak to,” Dwalin said, looking back over to Bilbo.

“What’s going on?” Bilbo asked.

“There’s a man on the phone asking for you,” Dwalin explained, and Bilbo furrowed his brows in confusion. Anyone that would be trying to get a hold of him would try to call his cell phone, and he knew his phone hadn’t rung that morning. Who could it be?

“I’ll be right back,” Bilbo told Thorin before standing up and putting his dish down on the coffee table. 

“You might wanna…before you come down...” Dwalin trailed off, glancing down at Bilbo’s bare legs. “I mean we don’t have customers yet, but…” 

“Oh, blast it,” Bilbo muttered. “I’ll be down in a minute, okay?” 

Dwalin began to laugh as he closed the door behind him and Bilbo grabbed his stack of folded clothes from yesterday and went to change in Thorin’s bathroom. Once he determined that he looked presentable in case they got visitors, he left the bathroom and made for the door downstairs. Bilbo glanced at Thorin who was smirking at him and then pretended he hadn’t been looking. 

He hurried down the stairs where Kíli was sitting in the chair behind the desk, and Bilbo waved him away when he wouldn’t move. Bilbo picked up the phone and selected the line to answer the phone.

“Bilbo Baggins, how can I help you?” Bilbo answered. 

“Bilbo, this is Bard Bowman from the news channel?” Bard answered.

“Oh, yes, hello!” Bilbo nodded. “What can I do for you?”

“I’m so sorry to hear about Mr. Durinson’s injuries,” Bard started. Bilbo frowned in confusion, waiting for Bard to continue. “I was just wondering if I could get a few more details about when the centre will be hosting tours again? A few of our viewers have contacted the station to ask, and well, I’d like to know myself so that I can plan my trip this summer accordingly,” Bard explained. 

“Oh, well I’m glad to hear it,” Bilbo smiled. “We’re… unsure at the time but it’ll probably be another week or two before we know for sure.” 

“Can we expect an announcement on the Facebook page?” Bard asked. 

“Yes, absolutely,” Bilbo nodded, even though the man couldn’t see him. “I’ll be updating that as soon as I have more solid information about when tours can resume.”

“We’ll be looking forward to it,” Bard told him. “How has business been before the accident?” 

“We’ve been busy,” Bilbo told him. “More so than we have been and I think that’s mostly because of your segment, so thank you.” 

“I’m happy to hear it. I imagined it might have helped, especially when we had a few of our viewers contact the station with questions.”

“We’ll be working tirelessly to get the tours back up and running,” Bilbo assured him. 

“Don’t exhaust yourself and tell Thorin I wish him a speedy recovery. It was nice talking to you again, Bilbo.” 

“You too, Bard,” Bilbo bid goodbye to the journalist. 

“Who was that?” Kíli bounced impatiently. 

“The news anchor who did our segment on the news,” Bilbo looked to Dwalin. “How close are we to having a boat back to safe functioning status? How bad are the damages?”

“Well,” Dwalin sighed. “The first boat is going to take weeks to get back into shape with the means and materials we have right now. On the other hand, the only thing we’re missing on boat number two is an updated engine, but it’s better than boat number one, which is currently fried. But safety standards dictate the engine can’t be more than ten years old.”

“How old is the engine sitting in it right now?” Bilbo asked.

“About thirteen years old,” Dwalin explained. 

“Oh,” Bilbo muttered with a note of surprise. “That’s not terrible though… is it in bad shape?”

“It’s actually in decent shape since it hasn’t seen much use. It’s rare we’ve had two boats out at once in the past thirteen years,” Dwalin shrugged.

“Then...we could use that boat to run tours?” Bilbo asked.

“Without buying a new engine?” Dwalin frowned. “Bilbo, it’s against code!” 

“Sure, but you just said it was in decent shape,” Bilbo shrugged. Dwalin looked like he wanted to argue but he thought it through. 

“Yes, but the engine we had in the other boat was supposed to be in decent shape, and now it’s fried,” Dwalin argued. 

“Maybe there was just some… technical fluke that was triggered by the rough waters,” Bilbo shrugged. 

“Or it was Smaug,” Kíli suggested nonchalantly. Bilbo rolled his eyes.

“Bilbo, we still don’t know what actually happened out there,” Dwalin reminded him. 

“It… should be okay as long as we don’t have guests out there with rough waters. Whatever happened was because of the weather…” Bilbo tried to argue, but he didn’t sound very convinced. 

“Or because of the lake monster,” Fíli interrupted. 

“That’s enough, you two,” Dwalin shook his head disapprovingly at the two boys. “Do you think it’s funny your uncle is so badly hurt?” 

The two boys slowly shook their heads and looked a tad guilty. Bilbo sighed as Dwalin turned back to him.

“Okay, so we potentially use boat number two. I’ll try to get it back up to running tour standards, and triple check nothing technical could be a problem. If I could take apart the engine in the first boat and figure out what happened… but then it might not be repairable… well, it might not be repairable as it is…” Dwalin trailed off. 

“What’s going on?” Thorin slowly reached the bottom of the stairs.

Before Bilbo could reply, the two boys interrupted. 

“Uncle Thorin!” Kíli jumped up and ran towards his uncle. Bilbo instinctively reached and grabbed a fistful of Kíli’s t-shirt to try to slow him down. 

“Kíli!” Bilbo snapped. “You’re going to hurt him!”

“Oh, sorry,” Kíli looked sheepish as Bilbo let him go. “Uncle, you're alive!” Kíli jumped up and down. 

“Course, I’m alive,” Thorin chuckled gingerly reached out to give Kíli a gentle hug. 

“What happened?” Fíli asked. “Was it Smaug who damaged the boat?” 

“Don’t be ridiculous. It was just bad wind,” Thorin told him. “I was being careless and wasn’t paying attention.” Bilbo raised his eyebrows, that was the most description he’d gotten from Thorin about the night of the accident. “Who was on the phone?” Thorin asked. 

“Bard from the news station,” Bilbo explained. “He just wanted to know when tours would be back up.”

“What did you tell him?” Thorin frowned. 

“Told him I’d update the Facebook page as soon as I could,” Bilbo explained. 

“Okay,” Thorin shrugged. “I still don’t see how we’re going to have tours anytime soon.”

“Bilbo wants to use the next best boat,” Dwalin shrugged. 

“That other boat’s engine isn’t up to code,” Thorin argued. 

“Dwalin said it’s just because it’s only a couple years past the range it’s supposed to be. He also explained that engine didn’t get used as much because it’s the second boat, I think we can stretch it at least for this season, and we’ll focus on getting it up to code during the off season.” Bilbo explained. 

“I don’t like it,” Thorin muttered. “But it’s better than nothing.” 

The door opened, and a family with a young boy came in. 

“Okay, get back upstairs, you’re embarrassing,” Dwalin shooed them away from the desk. “Or at least he is.” Bilbo rolled his eyes and led Thorin back upstairs as Frerin led the family inside.

Once upstairs, Thorin collapsed back into his armchair and Bilbo began to clean up breakfast and did the dishes from that morning.  After setting the kitchen back to normal, Bilbo decided to head back to the bed and breakfast to retrieve his things. He couldn’t foresee staying at the bed and breakfast any longer while he helped watch over Thorin and aid in his recovery. Bilbo meant to discuss this with Thorin before actually moving his things to Thorin’s apartment, but Thorin had already fallen asleep again, the painkillers taking their toll.

Bilbo sighed and found a scrap of paper and a pen to write out a quick message to leave in case Thorin woke up again and wondered where he was. He made sure Thorin had his phone right there in case he needed to call Bilbo for any reason. Finally, he made his way back downstairs. Fíli was now the only one sitting behind the desk, and the centre was empty.

“Where are your brother, Uncle Frerin, and Dwalin?” Bilbo asked the teenager. 

“They’re outside with that family. I think Dwalin and Frerin are giving them a shortened ‘on-land’ tour for free,” Fíli explained. “Kíli just wanted to go outside, so he’s out there with them.” 

Bilbo glanced outside and saw the family, Frerin, and Dwalin out on the pier overlooking the lake. 

“Thorin’s upstairs sleeping so I’m going over to the bed and breakfast to get my things, and I’ll be right back,” Bilbo told him. “Thorin’s got his phone up there but just… listen to make sure he’s okay, all right?”

“All right,” Fíli agreed. Bilbo left the centre and quickly walked back to the bed and breakfast. The sun was shining, and the skies were clear, and he noticed the town looked livelier than usual. He was happy to finally see Erebor with people out enjoying the quaint little town. 

He arrived back at the bed and breakfast and let himself in and hurried up to his room. Bilbo began to straighten things up and repack his bag as much as he could. It was difficult to compact everything back into his bag after several months of living in that room. He did the best he could and was soon lugging his luggage out the door. 

“Whoa, where do you think you’re going in such a hurry?” Bofur asked coming up the stairs. “You look like you’ve just committed murder and are trying to make a clean escape.”

“Oh, Bofur,” Bilbo sighed. “Sorry, I didn’t see you when I came in… I was going to tell you I’m probably going to be staying with Thorin while he heals from his injuries.” 

“Oh, right, how’s he doing today?” Bofur asked. 

“It’s going to be some time before he’s completely healed, but he’ll be okay. He just needs an extra pair of hands around.” 

“Well, it’s probably for the best,” Bofur decided. “I was going to talk to you about the number of reservations we’re starting to take, and we may be needing the extra space. With Thorin’s family staying with us we’re going to be hurting for rooms here soon. You vacating to live with Thorin may be for the best,” Bofur grinned.

“I know that was a potential we discussed a little while ago and it seems like now I have no other choice,” Bilbo shrugged. “And it won’t be permanent. As soon as Thorin gets back on his feet, I’ll hopefully have finalized the sale of my family home, and I’ll have the means to buy my own place up here.”

“Well, I wish you the best of luck with your new living arrangements,” Bofur nodded. “Would you like some help back over to the centre? I’ve been meaning to come for a visit to see how Thorin’s been doin’.” 

“Well, he was dozing when I left, but I would most definitely appreciate the help.” Bilbo smiled. “If you’re not too busy that is.” 

“Me, busy?” Bofur laughed. “Course not, let’s go.” 

The two of them made their way back to center and they entered, pulling Bilbo's luggage behind them. 

The family that had been there when Bilbo left was still there as their young son perused the gift shop. As they entered, Bofur excitedly greeted the family. After dropping Bilbo's bags behind the front counter, he came back around and began visiting. He asked where they were from and if they were just passing through. 

They explained they were on their way to visit family and had remembered Erebor was up here. 

Bofur quickly handed them a business card and welcomed them to come and stay a night or two on their way back.

“Hopefully our boat tours will be back up soon, and when you're coming back you can have a proper tour!” Bofur excitedly told them.

The family of tourists thanked them before purchasing a small toy and leaving the centre. 

“What’s all this?” Dwalin scrutinized the luggage sitting behind the counter. 

“I’m vacating my room at the bed and breakfast to stay and take care of Thorin,” Bilbo explained nonchalantly. 

“Oh?” Dwalin cocked an eyebrow. “Awfully generous of you.” 

“Well, someone needs to, and I can't imagine Thorin asking for much help,” Bilbo explained with a shrug. 

“And Thorin is aware that you’re just going to move in like this?” Dwalin asked. 

“I haven’t necessarily told him, no.” Bilbo shook his head. “But… I can’t imagine he’ll be  _ too _ upset with me.”

“No, I can’t imagine that either,” Dwalin commented with a shrug. 

“I’ll head up and see if Thorin’s woken up yet or not,” Bilbo told Bofur, taking one of his bags up the stairs. Bilbo quietly opened the door and slipped inside glancing over to the chair. Thorin was lazily flipping through the channels on the television. 

“There you are,” Thorin commented. “What’s with the bag?” Thorin asked, seeing Bilbo set it down. 

“I left you a note that I… I’m–er, well, I’m kind of moving in,” Bilbo explained hesitantly. “You need someone to help you as you recover and Bofur needs more rooms available at the bed and breakfast, so it makes sense.” 

“W-Wait, you’re moving in?” Thorin sat up a little more. 

“Yes… erm, I guess I should have asked. Is that okay?” Bilbo asked. 

“I don’t care,” Thorin quickly explained. “I mean, it’s fine, I just… where are you going to sleep?”

“I can sleep on the couch,” Bilbo shrugged, and Thorin frowned. 

“If you’re going to be living here… you could… ah, take my bed, at least.” 

“What? Why would I do that?” Bilbo questioned, his stomach fluttered. 

“I’m going to be sleeping here for a little while, at least until my collarbone has healed,” Thorin explained. “It would be stupid to have you sleep on the couch when there’s a perfectly fine, unoccupied bed.” 

“All right, we’ll see about that,” Bilbo shrugged. “For now, Bofur is downstairs. He’s been wanting to know how you’re doing. Want to go down or shall I show him upstairs? Or I could tell him you’re still asleep if you’d rather not have company.”

“No, I’ll come down,” Thorin agreed.  “Feel like people are coming to see me on my deathbed,” Thorin mumbled. 

“All right, Mister Dramatic,” Bilbo rolled his eyes. “Come on.” 

“We don’t have any visitors downstairs do we? I’d hate for Dwalin to scold me for being down there again,” Thorin muttered. 

“No, we don’t. Come on.” He reached his hand out to steady Thorin as he stood. Thorin took his hand and gently pulled himself up. 

“Thank you,” Thorin hummed as Bilbo led them back down the stairs. 

Bofur jovially greeted Thorin and told him he looked better than expected. They visited for a little while until Thorin was looking worn out. 

“All right,” Bilbo tried to wrap up the conversation. “Thorin probably needs to go take a nap.” 

“Oh, yes,” Bofur looked sheepish. “My apologies. It’s good to see you up and about though after hearing about what happened.” Thorin gave the innkeeper an appreciative smile before following Bilbo back up the stairs.

“Can I have more pain medication, yet?” Thorin asked, grimacing as he sat back down in his armchair. 

“Not for another couple hours. I can make you some tea if you’d like?” Bilbo offered. “Oh, I don’t know if you have tea. I could always run over to the bed and breakfast; I’m sure Bombur has some I could borrow.”

“No, no tea,” Thorin shook his head. “I’m fine, thank you.”

“I should get us some,” Bilbo murmured to himself as he found a scrap of paper and a pen and began to make a short list. “I’ll buy us some things for dinners and lunches too… your kitchen remains dreadfully bare, you know. I don’t know how you took care of yourself before this. Did you really survive on takeaway?” Bilbo asked as he marked a few more items on his list. 

Thorin mumbled inaudibly in response to Bilbo’s question. 

“I mean, it’s fine, I suppose, I just think it would help your finances—not to mention your health—to eat a little more often at home,” Bilbo continued. “Obviously you’re not going to be doing much cooking now, but I don’t mind. I’m sure I’ve told you before I miss cooking in a proper kitchen, so it’ll be nice to start cooking again. I suppose we should have lunch soon, so I should go to the store now to pick something up. Is there anything…?” 

Bilbo glanced up to where Thorin sat to ask him if he’d want anything at the store, but Thorin was already fast asleep in the armchair. 

“Hm,” Bilbo sighed. He tore off an extra piece of paper from his list and jotted down a quick note: ‘ _ If you want anything from the store call me.’ _ Bilbo set the note next to Thorin’s cell phone on the side table. 

Folding up his shopping list, Bilbo headed downstairs to the centre

“Where are you going, Mister Baggins?” Kíli asked after Bilbo had come back down. 

“I’m going to buy some groceries down at corner store,” Bilbo told him. “Would you like to go with me?” 

“Yeah, can I go Uncle Dwalin?” Kíli asked. 

“I think we can manage without you. Fíli, you wanna go?” Dwalin looked over to the blond brother who shrugged and shook his head. “Hey, and remember, be polite to Mister Baggins,” Dwalin told Kíli. 

“I know,” Kíli sighed. “Let’s go, Mister Baggins.” 

They spent a bit of time at the corner store as Bilbo decided what he could do with the ingredients he could find. Kíli wandered in and out of the aisles, and it made Bilbo slightly nervous. He knew Kíli wasn’t a child, but he was still young enough to wander off or get in trouble. After finding everything he needed, he found Kíli looking at some sweets. 

“Would you like something?” Bilbo asked. “I’ll buy you something if you’d like.”

“Really?” Kíli stared up at Bilbo. 

“Sure. Get something you can share with your brother. He’ll be upset if we come back without something for him,” Bilbo suggested.  

When they returned, Thorin was back downstairs in the centre in his sweats talking with Frerin.

“Did you go grocery shopping?” Thorin asked.

“Yes, you don’t have much upstairs if you haven’t noticed,” Bilbo explained. “I left you a note.” 

“Mister Baggins even bought me sweets!” Kíli grinned excitedly. 

“Remember you’re sharing that with Fíli,” Bilbo reminded him. 

“Augh, did he beg you for those? I’ll repay you for everything,” Thorin offered. 

“No you won’t,” Bilbo refused. “These groceries are for me too, I can pay for them, and I offered Kíli to buy him sweets, he didn’t beg for them,” Bilbo explained. “Now, come upstairs and help me put these groceries away.” 

Thorin agreed to help and followed Bilbo back up the stairs to his apartment. 

“I know you’re probably tired but would you like to try and shower before resting?” Bilbo suggested as he put the groceries away. 

“Probably should,” Thorin mumbled. “Are you saying I smell?” he chuckled. 

“I’m just saying I think you might feel better,” Bilbo explained. 

“How do I even… bathe with this?” Thorin gestured to his sling and bandaged wrist.

“I can help you take the sling off, just be careful,” Bilbo told him. “And we’ll need to cover your cast or bandage or whatever with something because you can’t get it wet.”

It only took Bilbo a moment to find a plastic bag from the takeaway they ate so much of and secured it around Thorin’s bandaged wrist. 

“Would you like any help… ?” Bilbo asked hesitantly, as Thorin began to unbutton his flannel shirt. 

“No, unbuttoning isn't too bad, I can get it,” Thorin shook his head, and Bilbo quickly hurried out of Thorin’s room before Thorin continued to get undressed. 

“Just call if you need me,” Bilbo called as he left. As he heard the shower run, Bilbo worked on cleaning up the place and folding his and Thorin’s bedding. Eventually, the shower shut off and Bilbo realized his stomach was growling. He hadn’t had lunch yet, and Bilbo turned back to the fridge and pulled out the ingredients he bought at the store to make a sandwich for him and Thorin. 

Finally, Thorin came out of the shower, without a shirt and wearing a fresh pair of sweats. 

“Do you, ah, need help putting something on?” Bilbo asked awkwardly, as he tried to avoid looking at Thorin for too long to keep from seeming like he was ogling. Thorin carefully shrugged with his one good shoulder.

“Not now,” Thorin argued.

“Okay, whatever makes you comfortable. You know what Dwalin will have to say if he ends up coming up here again with you…” Bilbo remarked quietly, making a small gesture at Thorin’s naked torso. 

“I don’t give a damn what Dwalin has to say,” Thorin muttered. 

_ Maybe I do, _ Bilbo thought to himself. He remembered the betting pools about them that Dís had mentioned. If Dwalin was involved at all, Bilbo was sure he was gossiping about them to everyone else in the pool, changing the odds and accepting new bets about their relationship. Bilbo sighed. 

“I’ll put something on in a bit,” Thorin finally replied as if he could sense Bilbo’s worries about word getting around. 

“Thank you. Do you need help putting the sling back on?” 

“Later,” Thorin shook his head eying the sandwiches Bilbo was making.

“Oh, I made us some lunch,” Bilbo explained as he finished.

“Mm, thank you,” Thorin gladly scooped up one of the sandwiches. 

“Feel better after your shower, at least?” Bilbo asked. Thorin nodded as he sat down at the table and ate.

After lunch, Thorin went and put a flannel shirt on and allowed Bilbo to help him button the shirt and put the sling back on.

Thorin went back to sit in his armchair and napped on and off for the rest of the day. Bilbo decided to sit down and answer some of the messages and comments on their Facebook page about tours and the current situation. There was hardly a solid answer he could give the inquiring people, but he figured something was better than nothing.

As he was finishing off an email to one of his cousins, he heard additional voices downstairs and eventually heard footsteps on the stairs up to the apartment. There was a soft knock at the door and a pause. 

“Yeah, come in,” Bilbo called, which woke Thorin up from his current nap session. 

The door opened and revealed Dís and Víli, whom Bilbo remembered meeting when they came up to Erebor in the spring.  

“We’re back,” Dís announced. “Sorry, we must have woke you,” Dís added as she noticed Thorin’s sluggish attempt to stand up to greet his sister and brother-in-law. 

“No, it’s okay. It feels like I’ve been sleeping all day,” Thorin remarked with a small smile to the two of them.

“My God, Thorin,” Víli muttered as he greeted Thorin. “I’d hug you, but…” 

“I know, I look like hell,” Thorin gave a slight chuckle as he shook Víli’s hand in greeting.

“Are you feeling any better?” Dís asked. “You do look a little better.”

“A bit better, but it’s mostly due to the pain medication,” Thorin sighed. “And Bilbo made me take a shower. Maybe that’s why.” 

“Did you?” Víli laughed. 

“I didn’t force him,” Bilbo rolled his eyes. 

“You heavily suggested it though, hm?” Dís grinned. 

“Perhaps,” Bilbo smiled.

“Did you want to head over and fetch your things from the bed and breakfast tonight?” Dís asked. 

“Oh, I went over earlier, and I’ve brought all of my things over here already,” Bilbo explained. “Worked out for the best. Bofur needed the extra room to rent out, and Thorin needs someone here to look after him.”

“So… you’ve moved in  _ completely _ ?” Dís smiled, glancing at Bilbo's luggage. 

“For the time being… until Thorin’s doing better and I’ve… found a place to live,” Bilbo explained. 

“Right,” Dís nodded. “Well, good. Thank you for taking such good care of my brother. It really should be me over here taking care of him.”

“Nonsense, you’re on vacation,” Bilbo shrugged. 

“And you’re not?” Dís laughed.  

“Well, all right. If you want to get into technicalities… but really, I don’t mind,” Bilbo explained. “And it’s more convenient for everyone.”

“Hmm,” Dís hummed thoughtfully. Bilbo gave her an eye roll, hoping Thorin wasn’t about to ask what this nonverbal exchange was. 

“All right, we’re going to go drop Víli’s bags off at the bed and breakfast. I’ll have Bombur and Bofur pack up some dinner, and we’ll be back over to eat. Unless you’re too tired to host us,” Dís said. 

“No, no, please do. We’d be glad to have company,” Thorin remarked, glancing to Bilbo to check and make sure it was okay with him. Bilbo nodded in response, adding, “Of course.” 

Dís and Víli soon left the way they came, and Bilbo set about clearing off the kitchen table and taking plates down to prepare for dinner. Within the hour, they returned with Fíli and Kíli behind them. 

“Frerin?” Thorin asked when he saw his brother wasn’t behind his nephews. 

“Decided to stay over at the bed and breakfast. Bofur was complaining that all of his guests were abandoning him for the evening,” Dís chuckled as she set the plastic container with food down on the counter. Bilbo came over to help her with heating and serving up the meal. “It’s just an excuse for them to drink and swear without kids around.”

Bilbo smiled, imagining how rambunctious Frerin and Bofur could probably get when alcohol was involved. 

They sat down and enjoyed dinner, the topic of discussion mostly remained on how they were going to get back on their feet for the summer season. Fíli and Kíli were eager to volunteer themselves to help out on tours before Dís shook her head disapprovingly. 

“I don’t think so,” Dís sighed. “We’ve got more than enough people who could give tours between me, Frerin, Dwalin, and Bilbo. You boys can help keep the exhibits clean and help customers in the gift shop though. Maybe Mister Bilbo can give you a lesson on how to keep receipts organized and take reservations.”

“That’s boring stuff,” Kíli sighed. 

“But very important,” Bilbo interjected. 

“Not as much fun as tours though,” Fíli argued. 

Bilbo glanced at Thorin who remained quiet. There was the unspoken worry hanging in the air about the fact that whatever happened to Thorin on the boat could happen again. Bilbo decided he didn’t want to bring it up or push Thorin to talk about it just yet. 

After dinner, Dís and Víli helped clean up and wash the dishes. Fíli and Kíli were antsy once dinner finished though, so they didn’t linger long after dinner. They could tell Thorin was getting drowsy again after taking another dose of his pain medication. 

Thorin and Bilbo absentmindedly watched TV for a bit, until Thorin finally began nodding off and Bilbo decided to go ahead make up his own bed on the couch. 

“Bilbo, don’t you want to take my bed?” Thorin suggested quietly. 

“What?” Bilbo questioned. “Oh, right you mentioned it earlier.”

“I know that couch isn’t that comfortable,” Thorin explained further. 

“Yeah, but I’m not going to take your bed,” Bilbo shrugged.

“I told you, I don’t think I’ll be sleeping in it for a while,” Thorin said. “Especially if you’ve given up your bed at the bed and breakfast, you deserve to sleep in a proper bed.” 

Bilbo sighed as he thought it over. Thorin was right, and he didn’t get the best sleep out there on the sofa compared to a proper mattress anyway. 

“You’d really be okay with me sleeping in your bedroom while you’re out here?” Bilbo asked.

“I don’t mind.” Thorin shook his head. 

“So, what’s going to happen when you want your bed back?” Bilbo questioned. 

“We’ll figure it out. Maybe by then Bofur will still have your room available, or we can find you a place to live by then,” Thorin suggested. Bilbo sighed doubting he’d find something that quickly. But it did seem ridiculous for him to sleep on the couch when there was a perfectly fine bed in the room next door.

“I suppose I could,” Bilbo admitted. 

“There’s an extra set of bedding in the closet since you kind of stripped my bed already.” Thorin gestured to the comforter that was covering him. 

“Oh, right,” Bilbo nodded. “Thank you. Just shout if you need anything and thank you, Thorin.” 

“Of course,” Thorin smiled. “Good night.”

Bilbo bid Thorin good night and retired to Thorin’s room. It was a little messy, but Bilbo could hardly blame him with the hectic couple of days it had been. He could tell that underneath the mess it was usually pretty neat and organized. Bilbo opened the closet and found the the second set of bedding. After making the bed, Bilbo hesitantly sat down on the mattress and contemplated how odd it was to sleep in Thorin’s bed. 

He had contemplated the thought before: sharing a bed with Thorin. After his talk with Lobelia about the idea to move in as Thorin’s roommate, the idea of sharing a bed—either romantically or platonically—had crossed his mind once or twice. Bilbo sighed and turned off the side table lamp. Taking a deep breath in, the soft smell of the bedding reminded him of Thorin and he soon drifted off.


	14. Chapter 14

Within the week they were able to return to giving the boat tours. Both Dwalin and Dís had reviewed the usual trip around the lake and the script to the tour. Even Bilbo glanced over the standard tour dialogue in case he was ever called upon to give a tour. He still refused to drive the boat, but if he needed to, he could tag along on the tour and provide the information. Bilbo hoped he’d never need to, but it was good to be prepared.

Before they officially posted that tours were available once again, Bilbo sat Thorin down the evening before they made it official that they were back. 

“Before we do this,” Bilbo started, “can you honestly tell me what happened to the ship that was damaged when you got injured? We can’t have it happen again. We just need to take the right precautions, and we need to know what to watch for.” 

“I’m honestly not sure, Bilbo,” Thorin sighed. “I don’t know what happened. Sure the wind was bad and, the water was choppy, but it surely wasn’t bad enough to damage the ship and injure me like this.” 

“You still haven’t told me a detailed account of what happened,” Bilbo reminded him softly. “Maybe if you tell me what you remember we can come up with some kind of theory as to why it happened.”

“It’s...it’s just odd. I don’t know,” Thorin muttered. “I was headed back this way, and the navigation system was bugging out. I slowed the boat down to try to figure out what was going on...I should have waited until I was back...I was just going to reset the GPS when the engine stalled, and the boat shook. I hardly had time to wonder what could have done it when the boat was jarred violently again and I was thrown down, hitting my head, and I tried to break the fall, but it was so fast… that’s when I broke my wrist, I think. As I pulled myself back up the boat rocked so hard, it threw me against the side of the boat and… and I lost my balance as the boat tipped again and I fell into the water. I thought the boat was going to capsize, which is why I foolishly just swam to shore as fast as I could… and when I got to shore I was so exhausted, I just blacked out. Then I remember hearing the bike… Dwalin… then you…” Thorin trailed off. 

Bilbo frowned remaining silent for a moment, turning this new information over in his head.

“Wow…” Bilbo sighed, breaking the silence. “It doesn’t sound like just the wind that did that, hm? Jarred the boat that badly?”

“No, the wind really wasn’t  _ that _ bad. Not bad enough to move the entire boat the way it did.” Thorin shook his head. “I remember thinking it couldn’t have  _ possibly _ been the wind. But… what else?”

“You’re sure you didn’t see anything?” Bilbo asked. “Anything in the water that might have done that?”

“...You’re suggesting Smaug did this,” Thorin realized. 

“You said it yourself… what else? What else could be in that lake but the  _ thing  _ that inspired the myth? I’m not saying that it’s  _ actually  _ a lake monster. But something has to be in that water that might have started the myth and whatever it is it must be big enough to damage boats.” 

“Nothing sizable should be living in that lake,” Thorin explained. “There’s been scans and nothing larger than a fish is in that water. You know that. You should know that better than anyone!” 

“I also know we both saw something out there the night we were filming the  _ sighting _ ,” Bilbo argued. “Are you really trying to say an oversized catfish bumped your ship and caused you a broken wrist, collarbone, and ribs with a side of concussion?” Bilbo folded his arms. 

“No, of course, not.” Thorin disagreed hastily. After a beat, he sighed. “Or maybe I was just clumsy, got dizzy or nauseous from being out there and lost my balance and…”

“You all of a sudden lose your sea legs after an entire lifetime living up here on the boats?” Bilbo looked at him skeptically.

“I don’t know… I don’t know, Bilbo.” 

“Do you think it’s safe to be out on the water? Do you feel safe enough letting your sister and cousin take boats out there with guests?” Bilbo pressed, and Thorin avoided Bilbo’s gaze. After a moment Bilbo added uncertainly, “Do you feel safe letting me out onto the lake if I have to give a tour?”

Thorin finally looked back to meet Bilbo’s gaze. 

“I… I think so,” Thorin said.  “To be safe, we’ll say we’re going to cancel tours if the winds pick up,” Thorin decided. “Maybe we’ll take the last tour of the day off our schedule. I haven’t seen or felt anything like it during the day. I can only assume that whatever it was it’s more active in the evening hours. Maybe it  _ was _ just the wind… there  _ was _ a storm coming in that night.” Thorin muttered. “I think we’ll be fine.”

“You’re sure?” Bilbo raised his eyebrows and Thorin nodded. 

“We can’t ruin this summer. There’s too much riding on how well we do, and we can’t survive the rest of the year off of only three weeks of boat tours,” Thorin desperately explained.

“But if there’s something that endangers guests out there…” Bilbo muttered. 

“I don’t know. I mean, it can’t be right?” Thorin looked back to Bilbo. “Right?” Thorin prompted when Bilbo was silent. Bilbo looked at Thorin with an unsure expression. 

“You know as well as I do,” Bilbo sighed. “I know I did my thesis on it, but you’ve lived here your whole life. I mean you said it yourself, there have been  _ scans _ and nothing has appeared, but…” 

“Maybe it can avoid detection on those scans,” Thorin muttered nervously. 

“What are we going to do, Thorin?” Bilbo asked. 

“Let’s… ah, we’ll do a quick sweep of the lake with the remaining boat. We’ll go out there and see for ourselves… but not during the evening. During the day some time. Then… I think we could probably introduce morning tours. After a week of morning tours and nothing seems out of place we’ll bring it up doing both to morning and early afternoon tours and just nix the late afternoon tour? Do you think we could survive on two tour times a day for the rest of the season?” 

“Better than nothing,” Bilbo nodded. “I just hope we don’t have a lawsuit coming our way if something like that does happen again with guests onboard. That’ll sink us for sure, pardon the pun.” 

Thorin snorted in amusement, but his expression fell solemn again. 

“It has to be like getting struck by lightning or something, right?” Thorin asked. “It probably won’t happen again. It was a weird fluke, that’s it.” 

“Fingers crossed,” Bilbo hesitantly agreed. 

**x**

After sweeping the lake for the first time since Thorin’s accident, everything ran smoothly and looked all right. After discussing it a little further with the rest of Thorin’s family, Bilbo posted on their page that tours were slowly being offered again with a tentative schedule of how and when the tours would open up again. 

Once tours began again, usually Dwalin would drive the boat and Dís would recite the usual tour, pointing out points of interest. Somedays Dwalin had to work down at the auto shop, and Dís would take over both duties, and sometimes Dís and the family would go out, and Dwalin would take over. 

Once or twice when Thorin was well enough to sit in the centre and watch things, Bilbo went out and gave the tour. The first couple tours he did he was relatively nervous, with all attention turned towards him, but it was pretty fun once he got used to it. All of his enthusiasm while researching for his thesis all those years ago resurfaced and he was eager to give tours when needed. 

The next Monday, when the centre was closed, Thorin had a doctor’s appointment scheduled in Dale. Dís had volunteered to drive him into town, but Thorin didn’t like the idea of being mothered by his sister.

“Dís, I can drive myself,” Thorin argued when Dís arrived at the apartment that morning. 

“Now, come on, let me drive you. The boys want to go into town, and I need to do some shopping, anyway.”

“Yeah, we want to go Uncle Thorin,” Kíli added.

“Besides, it’ll be easier. I don’t know how you think you can drive yourself with only one hand, you’re just asking to be in an accident, and that’s the last thing we need,” Dís continued.

“I can use my other hand… a bit…” Thorin countered, uncertainly. He looked pleadingly at Bilbo, and Bilbo frowned in confusion.

“Thorin, just let your sister drive you, it isn’t that big of a deal,” Bilbo said, and Thorin glanced at Bilbo with a defeated look on his face. 

“All right,” Thorin conceded. “But, ah… maybe… er,” Thorin looked back at Bilbo hesitantly, his eyes going between Bilbo and the floor. 

“Erm, did you want me to come with you?” Bilbo asked, trying to guess what Thorin was getting at.

“Oh, er, no, you don’t need to, it’s your day off.” Thorin shook his head. “But you could… i-if you’d like.” Thorin continued quietly. Dís gave her brother a skeptical look. “Yes, okay, I’d like you to come with us,” Thorin admitted. “If you’d like,” he repeated. 

“Probably not a bad idea,” Dís shrugged. “You’ve been the one caring for him you could probably go in with him to listen to what the doctor has to say. Use the married excuse again.” 

“What?” Fíli frowned at his mother. 

“Oh, ah, Bilbo and Thorin kind of said they were married in the hospital so Bilbo could visit him without a fuss,” Dís explained.

“They practically are married at this point. They’re living together anyway,” Fíli snickered. Bilbo had a feeling he’d heard the others talking about their relationship, and they were the only ones bold enough to say something about it in front of them. 

“Does this mean they’re just gonna decide to be married then?” Kíli asked with a devilish smile on his face, knowing exactly what kind of predicament he was putting Bilbo and Thorin in. “So we don’t have to sit through a boring ceremony?”

“Oh no, if they decide to get married, they are  _ absolutely  _ having a ceremony.” Dís shook her head. “We need photographs to mark the occasion. I suppose you’d have it out by the lake, wouldn’t you?” Dís asked. “Perhaps in the summer? An evening after the centre’s closed? We can set up tents and—” 

_ “Okay, Dís,” _ Thorin glared at his sister, silently begging for her to stop. 

Bilbo’s stomach clenched as he imagined what Dís was explaining. It sounded quite fun, actually, and he hated the fact that he just considered what it would be like to plan a wedding with Thorin. 

“It doesn’t mean we’re getting married,” Thorin argued when it seemed Dís was not going to correct them. “We’re just friends, so knock it off.”

“That’s right, they are  _ just friends, _ no matter how much Thorin likes the way ‘Thorin Baggins’ sounds,” Dís agreed with a smug smile on her face. 

_ “What?” _ both boys broke into giggles. Thorin looked at Bilbo helplessly. Bilbo could only shrug, trying hard not to let his own smile show. Thorin looked as if he might burst from how red his cheeks were growing.

“I swear to God, Dís,” Thorin hissed. 

“Shouldn’t we… ah, be leaving soon? Don’t want to get stuck in Dale traffic anyway,” Bilbo prompted them before Thorin had to endure any more teasing. 

“Excellent point, Bilbo,” Dís grinned. “We must be on our way, come on now.” 

The car ride into Dale was mostly silent except for the radio quietly playing music. Thorin insisted Bilbo sit up front with Dís and Thorin remained in the back with his nephews. When they arrived in Dale, Dís pulled up to the medical offices, and Thorin and Bilbo got out. 

“Call me when you’re done. I’m gonna go pick up some stuff Dwalin wanted me to get from the hardware store to work on the boats. I’ll try to be back within the hour, though,” Dís told them through the driver’s side window. 

They entered the building and found the office they needed in the building directory, suite 203, before calling the elevator to take them to the second floor. They entered and checked in, and the secretary told them that the nurse would be right out. 

Bilbo looked nervously at the other occupants of the waiting room. One woman briefly looked up at them as they sat down. He swallowed thickly, wondering what the other people thought of them. He wanted to clarify to them all that they were simply friends. But then again, how many friends accompanied someone to a doctor’s appointment? Bilbo was beginning to feel more and more like Thorin’s partner every day and he knew it was dangerous to think like that. They’d have to discuss things sooner or later. Or perhaps Thorin did only see him as a good friend? Whatever Thorin said under the influence of pain medication didn’t hold any truth that Thorin had feelings for him. 

“Bilbo?” Thorin asked softly, interrupting his spiraling thoughts. 

“What?” Bilbo turned to Thorin. 

“You don’t look well,” Thorin rested the hand that wasn’t in the cast on Bilbo’s arm. 

“Oh, uhm, yeah, I’m not much of a fan of doctor offices,” Bilbo explained. “After doing all of this with my mum, you know.” 

“I didn’t even think… you didn’t have to come with me today. I would have been fine on my own,” Thorin said. 

“No, no, I just have to get out of my head,” Bilbo chuckled. “I’m happy to accompany you.”

“Okay,” Thorin sighed. 

After a few more minutes of waiting, eventually, a nurse came out into the waiting room and called Thorin’s name. Thorin stood up and looked at Bilbo questioningly. Bilbo nodded as he got up and followed Thorin. Dís  _ had _ said it would have been good to hear what the doctor had to say since he’d been helping Thorin the most. 

“This is my partner, Bilbo. He’s been taking care of me, and he insisted on coming back with me,” Thorin explained. “Is that all right?” 

“Of course,” the nurse agreed. “Right this way.”

They were led back to the patient rooms, and Bilbo’s stomach churned unpleasantly at the lie they were telling and the feeling of being back in a doctor’s office, remembering the last appointments he had accompanied his mother to. After being shown to a room and the nurse took Thorin’s blood pressure and double checked his charts, she assured them the doctor would be right in. 

“You doing okay, Bilbo?” Thorin asked again at the sight of Bilbo’s pale face. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” Bilbo assured him quietly. They didn’t have much more time to talk as the doctor came in and startled Bilbo. He was used to waiting much longer for the doctor during these appointments. 

“Hello,” the doctor greeted them warmly and introduced himself to them. “We’ve got Thorin Durinson,” the doctor reached out to shake Thorin’s good hand. “And Thorin’s partner, correct?” the doctor turned to shake Bilbo’s hand. 

“Bilbo Baggins,” Bilbo nervously nodded in acknowledgment as he shook the doctor’s hand. 

“Pleasure to meet you both,” the doctor nodded before getting back to looking over Thorin’s charts. He started by asking Thorin some questions about his recovery and eventually turned to Bilbo to ask a few questions about his recovery, which Bilbo was able to answer. Thorin smiled gently at Bilbo as he talked, which made Bilbo blush and stumble over a few of his words. 

The doctor then helped Thorin take his sling and then his shirt off to observe the bruising that was still present on his abdomen. Bilbo pressed his lips together and tried not to stare at the horrific colors the bruises had turned. He had seen them when they were fresh, but now they were on their way to healing and looked quite grotesque and painful. 

“How long have you two been together?” the doctor asked conversationally, as he gently pressed against one of Thorin’s ribs. 

“Three years,” Bilbo answered hesitantly, recalling Thorin’s invented relationship history. Thorin raised his eyebrows at him. Bilbo couldn’t quite decipher the meaning of the look.  “We, ah… just passed our one year marriage anniversary, actually.” 

“Oh, congratulations,” the doctor smiled. “I hope these injuries weren’t caused by any unnecessarily rough  _ celebrating,”  _ the doctor teased, and Bilbo and Thorin stared at each other, shocked by the slightly vulgar question and each of them blushing profusely.

“Oh, my goodness, no,” Bilbo was the first to find his voice finally.

“I’m sorry, that was  _ incredibly _ inappropriate,” the doctor immediately apologized. “My husband ended up in the emergency room on our one year anniversary—I won’t tell you for what,” the doctor snorted to himself as he recalled the memory, “so anyway, I couldn’t help myself, I’m sorry,” the doctor laughed. “Ridiculously unprofessional…” 

“We take no offense,” Thorin quickly said with a small laugh. “It was just a boat injury. We’re up in Erebor, and we do the tours for the lake monster.” 

Bilbo was relieved for the change in topic and gave Thorin a look that he hoped conveyed ‘thanks.’

“I was out on the water when I shouldn’t have been. A storm was coming in… the water was rough, and I… quite stupidly lost my balance,” Thorin explained. 

“Oh, Erebor!” the doctor nodded. “It’s been quite some time since I’ve been up there. Maybe we’ll have to come up and visit some weekend. My husband would enjoy it, at least. That is if you can promise there won’t be any more ‘boat accidents.’” 

Thorin’s face blanched, realizing what he had given away after so much care had been taken not to scare potential guests. 

“Right… it was just an after-hours accident, nothing to worry about. As I said, I was careless. I would never behave that way with guests on board, of course. Learned my lesson. Anyway, how long have you and your husband been together?” Thorin asked socially.

“Fifteen years, coming up. Makes me feel old, to be honest,” the doctor commented as he pulled on his stethoscope and asked Thorin to breathe in as deeply as he could while he listened to Thorin’s abdomen, near where the cracked rib was. Bilbo was relieved that the social part of the appointment seemed to come to an end. Soon the doctor was reviewing a few stretches and other things Thorin could do to help speed up the healing process, but mostly just suggested more rest with no strenuous activity. Bilbo helped Thorin with his shirt and sling as the doctor recommended a physical therapist and asked them to schedule a follow up in a few weeks. 

They got all the information they needed as they checked out and scheduled the next appointment and were on their way out of the office. Once they got in the elevator, and the doors closed they both let out a small chuckle that soon grew into uncontrollable laughter until Thorin winced in pain from the hysterics. The doors opened on the ground floor, and they both tried to quiet themselves in the quiet lobby with one or two other people entering the building. 

“Oh, my God,” Thorin wiped a tear from his eye. “Wow. That was… erm, wow.” 

“I know,” Bilbo shook his head. “Uh, maybe call Dís?” Bilbo suggested, pulling Thorin to the side of the lobby to one of the sitting areas. “I don’t think she’s here yet, anyway.” 

“Right, right…” Thorin nodded as he fished his phone out of his pocket and found Dís’ contact information. 

Bilbo could hear the phone ring twice before Dís picked up. 

“Done already?” Dís asked.

“Yeah,” Thorin couldn’t help but laugh. 

“What happened?” Dís questioned again. 

“Uh, nothing. I’ll, uh, tell you later,” Thorin smiled and winked at Bilbo, which made Bilbo’s heart sputter pleasantly. “You still at the hardware store?”

“Checking out now and we’re about fifteen minutes away. Thought we might grab lunch while we’re in town. Isn’t there a restaurant near there? I thought I saw a Silmaril Grill across the street?” 

“Uh, yeah,” Thorin nodded, looking out the large glass windows of the lobby. 

“Go get us a table and we’ll meet you there for lunch.” 

“Okay, see you soon.”

“Bye.” 

“So we’re gonna get lunch, then?” Bilbo asked as Thorin pocketed his phone again with a smile. 

“Yeah, there’s a Silmaril Grill across the street,” Thorin nodded as he headed towards the automatic sliding glass doors. 

“Are those like a chain? I don’t think I’ve ever been to one,” Bilbo frowned as he followed Thorin. 

“You don’t see them much out west. That’s why Dís likes to go to them while she’s here and we come into Dale. It’s relatively cheap, but still a sit-down restaurant,” Thorin said.

“Sounds good,” Bilbo agreed, squinting against the summer sun as they stepped outside. They walked up the block to the intersection and waited for the light to change. Eventually, they got the signal, and they stepped off the curb and began to cross. Thorin hesitantly reached his good hand out and grasped Bilbo’s elbow. 

“I, uh…” Thorin started when Bilbo glanced over at him. “I get nervous crossing busy intersections like this,” Thorin explained as he dropped his hand from Bilbo’s arm. Bilbo’s heart hammered in his chest and he wondered where his impulse control went as he reached for Thorin’s hand, and clasped it in his own. 

“That’s all right, I don’t blame you,” Bilbo replied, keeping his gaze straight ahead to avoid losing his courage. They reached the other side of the street and Bilbo loosened his grip a little, allowing Thorin to pull his hand away if it was too awkward. Instead, Thorin’s grip only tightened. 

“Now you know why I stayed in Erebor instead of moving to Ered Luin with my family,” Thorin remarked, teasingly.

“Oh, it came down to busy intersections, hm?” Bilbo laughed. 

“You don’t see anything like this in Erebor, that’s for sure,” Thorin continued. 

“No, I suppose not,” Bilbo smiled. 

They reached the entrance of the restaurant and Thorin let go of Bilbo’s hand to reach for the door to hold it open for him. Bilbo hated the small drop in his stomach as Thorin let go and he nodded thank you to Thorin. 

A hostess greeted them as they entered and asked if they just needed a table for two. 

“No, uh, five. My sister and my nephews will be joining us shortly,” Thorin explained, and the hostess began grabbing extra menus. 

“Any kid’s menus?” she asked as she gathered utensils from the tub in the hostess podium. 

“Uh, kid’s menus… shit, how old is Kíli again?” Thorin murmured to himself. Bilbo shrugged as if it would help. “I don’t think so, but uh, maybe one, just in case.” 

“Okay, right this way,” the hostess led them through the restaurant to a large corner booth. The menus were placed on the table, and the hostess promised them that their server would be with them shortly. 

“How far away did your sister say she was?” Bilbo asked as he blankly stared at the menu in front of him.

“Ah, twenty minutes. We have some time to kill,” Thorin shrugged. 

The server soon came by and offered to take their drink orders and if they’d like to wait for the rest of their party to arrive to order food. 

**x**

When Dís arrived, she and the boys found Thorin and Bilbo giggling over a kids menu with crayons in their hand and frozen margaritas in front of them. 

“What on earth…” Dís sighed as she took her seat. 

“Uh,” Thorin chuckled. “We didn’t know if Kíli needed a kids menu and uh…”

“I see you’ve kept yourselves entertained then.” Dís shook her head. 

“I don’t need a kids menu, Uncle Thorin. I’m _ thirteen,”  _ Kíli protested. 

“Yeah, but you still eat like a kid,” Fíli teased him. 

“Well, apparently Uncle Thorin and Mister Bilbo still need a kid’s menu to keep themselves entertained while they wait, so no harm done,” Dís remarked. “Did you already order?”

“No we were waiting on you,” Thorin explained. 

Dís, Fíli, and Kíli took their seats, Dís beside Bilbo and Fíli and Kíli on Thorin’s side. The two teenaged boys looked over their uncle’s shoulder to see what activity Thorin and Bilbo had been working on when they had arrived. Kíli grabbed a crayon of his own to help circle a word in the word search. 

The waitress came by and set glasses of water down in front of the new additions to the table and offered to go ahead and take their drink orders. 

“So how was the appointment? Everything healing okay?” Dís asked as she unwrapped her straw to put it in her water. 

“Yeah, we’ve got an appointment in a few weeks and a few other physical therapy sessions to schedule, but yeah, the doctor said I should be doing fine,” Thorin explained. 

“Good, I was worried that with you being _you,_ there’d be some complication, or we’d learn that you’re not healing properly because of something stupid you’re doing,” Dís shrugged.

“Thanks,” Thorin muttered. 

“So what happened at your appointment that was so entertaining?” Dís asked. 

“Oh, erm,” Thorin shook his head as Bilbo flushed red. “It’s not quite… suitable… lunch conversation?” Thorin tried to steer them away from the conversation. 

“What the f— what happened?!” Dís tried to censor herself in front of her sons who perked up, hearing their mother almost curse and she nearly couldn’t contain her laughter. 

At this point, Thorin’s face was burning bright red. 

“The, ah, doctor asked how long we were married,” Thorin started in a tight voice. “Told him our one-year anniversary story and he shared some theories about how I got these injuries… _celebrating…”_

“Oh, my G— _ that _ is highly inappropriate, you could go after him for making such remarks!” Dís hissed, her eyebrows shooting up her forehead. 

“He realized that and immediately apologized… it wasn’t… a big deal…” Thorin shook his head.

“So, Dís, I hear you like to eat here when you come out and visit, what do you suggest getting?” Bilbo pointedly steered the conversation away from him and Thorin. 

Thorin gently nudged his elbow to Bilbo’s arm, and Bilbo looked up at him with a hesitant smile. Thorin returned the smile before glancing over at his sister who was smiling slyly at them. 

**x**

Bilbo and Thorin returned to Thorin’s apartment reasonably late. After they had gotten back from Dale, Bofur insisted they all stay for dinner, and they ended up staying there well into the evening, sharing stories and laughing at stupid jokes. Bilbo was enthralled by some of the stories about guests who had visited Erebor in the past during the peak season. He couldn’t believe guests could act that way, but he supposed there were always going to be people like that. Bilbo considered how he would handle rude guests if he ever came upon them. He decided he’d had more than enough experience with rude cousins and neighbors that he could probably manage. Of course, he didn’t want to drive away business either… 

He put the rude guests out of his mind as he flipped the light on in the apartment and Thorin went to change out of his clothes for the evening. Bilbo turned on the television and flipped it to one of the late night shows. After sitting down and taking a moment to himself, he realized just how exhausted he was. 

Bilbo hadn’t realized it, but he had dozed off on the couch. He was woken up by a gentle nudge from Thorin as he came and sat beside him. 

“You gonna sleep here tonight?” Thorin teased him. 

Bilbo hummed and closed his eyes again, without meaning to he let his head fall against Thorin’s shoulder. For a moment he startled, worried that he had accidentally leaned against his injured shoulder. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” Thorin muttered. “You can lean against that shoulder,” he chuckled. Bilbo let his head fall back on Thorin’s shoulder and closed his eyes for a moment. The physical intimacy felt so good that Bilbo did honestly want to fall asleep beside Thorin on the couch. He figured that would make for an awkward morning and he didn’t want to trap Thorin on the sofa when he would be more comfortable in his armchair. Finally, Bilbo decided to drag himself off the sofa. 

“I should really get to bed before I actually fall asleep out here,” Bilbo admitted anxiously.

“If you’re sure,” Thorin said. “Hey, Bilbo,” Thorin called before Bilbo could turn and retreat to his temporary bed in Thorin’s room.

“Yeah?” Bilbo looked back at him curiously. Thorin opened his mouth to say something and then shut it quickly. 

“I just wanted to thank you for coming along with me today,” Thorin said softly, after reconsidering his words for a moment. “I really appreciate it.” 

“Of course.” Bilbo nodded. “Whenever you need a husband, let me know.” 

Thorin snorted at Bilbo’s remark, and Bilbo smiled to himself, before internally panicking.  _ What a stupid thing to say, _ Bilbo thought to himself as he shut the door behind him. What if he took it wrong and thought Bilbo was actually propositioning him? Alternatively… what if he thought Bilbo was joking and didn’t seriously mean it?  _ What  _ did _ I mean anyway?  _ Bilbo groaned as he pulled on one of his sleep shirts which was now beginning to smell like Thorin after sleeping in his bed all week. 

The only thing he knew for sure was he was only digging himself deeper and deeper, and he didn’t know how he was going to get out of it… or if he even wanted to. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UH THIS ENTIRE CHAPTER WAS STUPID FUN TO WRITE. (I maybe giggled for 20 minutes straight coming up with the 'Silmaril Grill' i'M SORRY, AM I THE ONLY ONE WITH A STUPID BAD SENSE OF HUMOR AND THE ONLY SILMARILLION REFERENCE I'M GONNA MAKE IN ANY FIC IS TO MAKE THE SILMARILS INTO A CHILI'S-LIKE CHAIN RESTAURANT?? ~~I FEEL BAGGINSHIELD IN THIS SILMARIL GRILL TONIGHT.~~
> 
> I figured we'd had quite a bit of plot happen the past chapter or two so I decided to give them all a break and delve deeper into Bilbo's crisis about his relationship with Thorin :)) 
> 
> UH ANYWAY, thanks again for everyone's patience as I fought through a writing slump and trying to update my 8539042 other WIPs.... jfc....


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter in which Thorin is incredibly mushy and sweet. Enjoy :'))

As Thorin healed, he kept to the centre during the day and greeting visitors as they came.

And there were many visitors to greet. As soon as they announced that they were able to do tours again, the stream of visitors picked up again. Now, both Bilbo and Thorin remained inside the centre while Dwalin and Dís took the visiting families on tours. A couple of days in over the next week or two they’d hit a good rhythm, just as Dwalin and Dís would come back with a group of visitors another family would be waiting for a tour. Bilbo would excitedly talk to the guests as they perused the gift shop or after they explored the exhibits.

Bilbo had found that many of them were like himself: they had visited the Long Lake when they were younger and had only just remembered that it was an excellent place to visit. Some were back with the parents that had brought them, and some were bringing their own families to see the lake. Bilbo was excited by all of their stories, and would eagerly relay his personal stories of visiting Erebor with his family and how much he loved the area.

“You’re embarrassing the way you talk about this place to customers,” Thorin chuckled, leaning back in his seat at the desk after one of the families had left.

“What?” Bilbo frowned at Thorin as he leaned against the desk. Thorin smirked up at him.

“I just mean you’re doing a hell of a job selling it,” Thorin said, raising an eyebrow. “The way you talk about this place is… really amazing actually. I’ve lived here all my life, and it’s never felt that special. When you talk about it, it feels like I’ve grown up in some mystical, amazing land.”

“That’s because you did,” Bilbo smiled.

“And somehow it took until now… until you to open my eyes to that,” Thorin explained. Bilbo blushed brightly and avoided Thorin’s gaze, glancing up and away from where Thorin sat.

“Well, I’m glad I was able to do that,” Bilbo told him with a shy smile.

“So what d’you think about moving up here?” Thorin asked tentatively. “Made a decision yet?”

“Goodness, I’ve hardly had time to think about it after your accident,” Bilbo admitted. “But now that you mention it… yes. Yes, I’m quite sure I’ll be moving up here. The centre’s been doing well… I think I can justify moving up here.”

Thorin beamed and before they could discuss the topic more, Dís opened the door to the centre.

“I’m not interrupting, am I?” Dís grinned at Bilbo’s bright blush, and Bilbo rolled his eyes.

“Of course not,” Thorin assured her. “I was just complimenting Bilbo on how well he’s been selling this place to our guests. Have you heard him and the way he talks about this place?”

“I’ve been privileged enough to witness it once or twice,” Dís replied teasingly.

“It’s not hard when I’m merely telling the truth. That’s how I see this place,” Bilbo explained to them.

“Well, what do you think?” Dís glanced at the clock on the wall. “Think that was probably it for the day?” Dís asked.

“We’ve still got a bit longer before we officially close up,” Bilbo shrugged. “But you’re probably right. I think that was the last guests of the day.”

“We did pretty well today. We had four tours and sold quite a bit out of the gift shop,” Thorin looked over the receipts from the day.

“Good,” Bilbo beamed. “I’ll work on balancing the books for the week tomorrow morning.”

“Bombur asked me to invite you all over for dinner tonight… if you’re feeling up to it?” Dís suggested.

“Oh, good. I wasn’t looking forward to cooking tonight,” Bilbo breathed a sigh of relief. “I’d love to.”

“I can start cooking more if you’re bothered by it,” Thorin offered, looking concerned.

“Oh, stop,” Bilbo chuckled. “You’re still on the mend. Do you want to go to the bed and breakfast tonight, or do you want to cook your own dinner?”

“No, I’d like to go to dinner,” Thorin agreed hastily. Dís smiled at the two of them.

“What time should we be over?” Bilbo asked.

“Oh, whenever,” Dís shrugged. “I think Bombur said dinner would be ready at seven. You could come ‘round now if you’d like.”

“No, I think I’m going to change before heading over, and besides we still have another twenty minutes until we’re officially closed,” Bilbo refused. “We’ll be over shortly, though.”

“Sounds good,” Dís nodded. “I’m gonna head back and tell Bombur to expect you guys, and I’ll see you over there in a bit.”

Dís left, and Bilbo turned back to Thorin.

“It’ll be really nice to have you around all year,” Thorin smiled. “Have you started looking for a place yet?” Thorin asked bringing them back to their conversation before Dís interrupted them. “Any place you get, I can help you fix it up. I know there isn’t a lot of real estate to go around, and some of the older homes are in various states of disrepair…”

For the briefest moment, Bilbo thought about inviting Thorin to come and live with him and move out from the small apartment above the centre. It could be a little two bedroom house, or…

No, absolutely not. That was overstepping, Bilbo was sure.

“Thanks,” Bilbo smiled. “That would be nice. I haven’t started yet, but I know I should… I should let Lobelia know too. She deserves to know now that it’s not quite as uncertain as it was at the beginning of the summer.”

Thorin looked excited by the idea of Bilbo officially telling his family—or Lobelia at least—that he was moving. That felt like it was absolutely solidifying the plan, and a pleasant feeling stirred in his stomach. However, there was a brief flash of guilt as well, knowing full well that he should tell Thorin how he felt about him before anything was finalized. Bilbo opened his mouth as he started to try and find the words to start the conversation.

“I’m going to go ahead and update the website and Facebook with our reservations from today. Why don’t you restock some of the t-shirts? There’s a box in the back room I’ve been meaning to unpack for a while, but…” Thorin gestured to the hand still in his sling.

Bilbo swallowed his words and nodded.

They were both silent as they worked, the occasional click of the computer mouse could be heard, along with the shuffle of a cardboard box and crinkle of the plastic that the shirts came in.

They finally reached their official closing time, and Thorin went to lock up as Bilbo tossed the box back into the back room. Both of them retreated up to the apartment and Bilbo ran to the bathroom before he went to dig through his luggage to find his favorite cardigan.

“I feel like I should clear out a drawer for you,” Thorin commented as he pulled out a fresh shirt. “At least until you find a place. It feels wrong that you’re still living out of a suitcase when you’ve lived here for four months now.”

“Four months?” Bilbo muttered as he pulled on the cardigan and buttoned it up, smoothing out the wrinkles. “It doesn’t feel like it's been that long.”

“It feels like it’s been longer to me,” Thorin explained. “Like you’ve been here for years.”

“You say that like it's a bad thing,” Bilbo chuckled.

“I assure you, it’s far from a bad thing,” Thorin told him with a small grunt of pain. Bilbo turned around to see Thorin pulling his shirt off and gingerly touching his bare shoulder.

“Are you okay?” Bilbo frowned. “Don’t overexert yourself. You’re still healing.”

“I’m fine,” Thorin assured him.

“Have you been doing your exercises?” Bilbo asked. Thorin’s silence was an answer enough. “Thorin,” Bilbo sighed.

“I’ll try to remember in the future,” Thorin muttered.

“That’s why you haven’t healed better or faster,” Bilbo shook his head. “Now, do you need help putting a shirt or do you just want to forego the shirt and go to dinner without one?”

“I can put my shirt on,” Thorin grumbled, his face flushing pink. “Are you ready to go?” Thorin asked as he began to struggle to put the new shirt on. Bilbo reached out and tried to help him with the shirt.

“Yeah, I only wanted to grab my cardigan and run to the bathroom,” Bilbo explained. Thorin hummed as he began to button up the flannel. Bilbo reached for Thorin’s sling and loosened the clasp.

“No,” Thorin shook his head. “I’m not going to wear it tonight.”

Bilbo raised his eyebrow with skepticism. “Just be careful. I don’t want you injuring yourself further.”

“I’ll be fine,” Thorin explained. “Ready to go?”

Bilbo and Thorin made their way over to the bed and breakfast, happy to have an excuse to visit. He had been missing visiting with Bofur every day. They enjoyed a hearty meal cooked by Bombur as they all packed into the bed and breakfast’s kitchen.

When the night came to an end Thorin and Bilbo walked back to the centre, Bilbo linked his arm through Thorin’s uninjured arm, feeling warm from the wine they’d had during and after dinner.

“How’s your arm feeling?” Bilbo asked sleepily.

“Still sore,” Thorin mumbled. “Might have to take a pain pill tonight to get to sleep.”

“Would you like to try to sleep in your bed?” Bilbo asked.

“No,” Thorin disagreed. “No, you stay there. I still think I’m sleeping better in the armchair.”

“Let me know when you want to have your bed back,” Bilbo told him. “I’ll be happy to give you back your bed.”

“But that means marooning you out on the couch,” Thorin sighed.

“I don’t want that to keep you from getting a good night's rest,” Bilbo said. “I mean, you need it.”

“I’ll let you know when I want my bed back,” Thorin assured him. “I promise.”

**x**

A few more weeks passed with relatively little excitement. Bilbo had called and told Lobelia he was definitely going to move up to Erebor. She once again pressed him about the ‘relationship situation’ with Thorin, which only irritated Bilbo.

Thorin was slowly recovering and beginning to get a little more movement back without so much pain in his shoulder and ribs. He was starting to feel healed enough that he could resume doing tours.

He picked up one tour each day for a week, and Bilbo was glad to see him get back to what he was used to doing. Bilbo could tell he was getting restless having to sit around inside all day.

One evening, Bilbo’s phone rang as they were getting ready to close.

“Shit, it’s my cousin,” Bilbo muttered pulling out his cell phone. “I’ve been meaning to call her, but I kept putting it off…”

“Well, get it. There’s no one else coming in tonight, we’re about to close anyway,” Thorin told him. “You should probably start to make actual decisions about your home.”  Bilbo sighed and answered the phone.

“Hello,” Bilbo answered as he headed to the back room to have a more private conversation. “Hi, Lobelia.”

Thorin went and put the closed sign up before going back to the front desk and organizing the receipts from the day.

“I know, Lobelia. It’s just been really crazy here. You remember I told you that Thorin was seriously injured? I’ve been looking after him, and not to mention we’re right in the middle of the busy season up here I haven’t had time to breathe let alone think about dealing with the house…”

Thorin felt terrible for eavesdropping on the conversation but Bilbo was only a few feet away in the back room, the only thing separating them was a flimsy curtain. He couldn’t help but overhear the conversation.

“I know, and I can come down mid-September sometime, and we can do it officially and get my things moved out,” Bilbo explained. “Lobelia, Lotho is still going to be at Fairfoot Elementary, it doesn’t matter if he’s started school already… hm… yes, I see your point. Well, look I still need to come and pack all my things, but maybe talk to the attorney, see if they can email or send me the paperwork to see if we can get things going at least. If I need to sign anything to get it rolling, tell them I can fax them a signature or something… we do have a fax machine, yes.”

Thorin chuckled looking over at the ancient machine. The fax machine hadn’t been used in years.

“No, Lobelia!” Bilbo hissed urgently, which piqued Thorin’s attention. “Yes, I know. No, I haven’t. I’m still… figuring it out, all right? I can’t until… just, stay out of my business, will you? You don’t know when to stop prying, you…” Thorin frowned wondering what they could be arguing about. “Just text me or email me when you figure out if I can sign the paperwork remotely and send it to them, all right? ...Yes, I’ll… I’ll figure something out and come down and get my things moved. If I need to, I’ll hire a moving company to get it done fast. Okay?” Bilbo snapped. “Yeah, I’ll talk to you later. Mhm, bye.”

Thorin tried to appear as if he hadn’t just heard every single word Bilbo had said on the phone as Bilbo emerged from the back room.

“Talking to her is like shouting at a brick wall, I swear,” Bilbo groaned. “Sorry.”

Thorin said no more, not wanting to provoke Bilbo further. He could tell Bilbo was upset.

“It's fine,” Thorin shrugged. “Want to head upstairs and figure out what we'll have for dinner?”

“Yes, sounds good.” Bilbo agreed and followed Thorin up to the apartment. Without really consulting Thorin, Bilbo began making dinner as Thorin hovered nearby.

“Sit down or something, you're making me anxious,” Bilbo told him, looking over his shoulder.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Thorin offered.

“Sit,” Bilbo suggested. Thorin gave in and took a seat at the small kitchen table, and he watched Bilbo work. Finally, all that was left to do was let the meal cook.

They made small talk about the business they’d made that day, and Bilbo kept an eye on dinner. The TV droned on softly in the background, and Bilbo finally got up to check on dinner. Once it was finished cooking, he and Thorin got their plates, and both of them sat for a quiet meal. Thorin wanted to say something, but he wasn’t even sure what Bilbo was upset about. He couldn’t tell if he was angry at his cousin or sad about his home or something else based on what his cousin had said to him at the end of their conversation. Once they were done Bilbo picked up their dishes and Thorin softly thanked Bilbo for the meal.

Bilbo silently worked on washing the dishes while Thorin sat on the sofa and watched the television at a low volume. Finally there was a commercial or something that lost Thorin’s attention, and he stood up and strode over to where Bilbo was aggressively washing the last of the dishes.

Thorin leaned against the counter until Bilbo came to a stop. He shut off the tap and looked up at Thorin with a frown.

“What?” Bilbo asked.

“What’s going on with you?” Thorin asked.

“Nothing,” Bilbo muttered.

“If this is about your cousin’s phone call and selling your home… you know, we can talk about it. I’m not holding you here, you can go back home for a week or two again if you need to take care of things with them,” Thorin offered. “My family can take on the load for a bit. They’re getting away with not doing much work with you here after all.”

“No, no… I’m… I’m still rather dreading even dealing with it, so I’m still just using you as an excuse, all right?” Bilbo explained, looking back down to the dishes in the sink. He busied himself by putting the last of the dishes on the dry rack. “It’s going to be rather an ordeal… packing everything up and figuring out the paperwork…”

“It’s not quite fair to do that to your cousins… tell them they can have the house and then drag it out forever.”

Bilbo shot Thorin a frustrated look but deflated not wanting to start an argument. He dried his hands with a dishtowel, still avoiding Thorin’s gaze. Thorin gave a defeated sigh when it seemed as if Bilbo wasn’t going to respond.

“That’s the only reason you even came here to begin with,” Thorin commented. “Your entire trip here has been one big excuse not to deal with things at home.” Bilbo could hear the underlying hurt in Thorin’s voice. He didn’t want Thorin to believe this whole charade had only been about avoiding home.

Sure, that was how it had started, but since his second week there he knew there had been something else holding him there. Bilbo sighed and looked back at Thorin.  

“Thorin,” Bilbo started. “It’s… It’s not just… just that. Listen, I’ve done all this, not only because it’s an excuse to avoid my family or that I’m obsessed with the sea monster or I’m still trying to hold onto any last memory I can of my parents–” Bilbo listed.

“Oh, right. Still think those reasons are probably part of it too,” Thorin mumbled as he folded his arms across his chest.

“The truth is... I'm frustrated with myself. I'm frustrated that I can't handle my mother's death and I'm frustrated with... trying to figure _this_ out...”

“Figure what out? Living up here? You’ve already figured it out. You’re going to move up here, aren’t you? I mean, we’re doing great, despite the hiccup at the beginning of the summer.” Thorin frowned, giving Bilbo a bewildered look. Bilbo sighed and gave Thorin a pointed look, hoping he would catch on, given that they were dancing dangerously close to the topic. Thorin continued to look lost, and Bilbo sighed. Maybe it was for the best if he didn’t say anything, especially if Thorin couldn’t catch on to what Bilbo was trying to allude to.

“Bilbo, is there anything else I can do to help you with… whatever you’re trying to figure out?” Thorin asked. “You’re worrying me, now.”

Bilbo took a deep breath.

_Now or never._

“Listen, Thorin. It’s difficult for me to explain how I… well, erm—you see, I… I-I really like you… as in more than a friendly type of way, at least I think so, but I’m not sure if it’s… if it’s, you know… erm, romantic or not. I've never really done anything or had anything like this. I've never wanted it, but with you it's different... I feel different, but it's a good different and I… I don’t know. Anyway, I think you should know that I… I feel this way before I move here permanently. If you don’t… well, if it’s weird for you, I’ll leave. It’s fine.”

Thorin looked like he had been formulating a reply, but the words died in his mouth. Whatever direction he thought the conversation would go, this was certainly not what he anticipated. Bilbo twisted the hem of his cardigan and bit his lip anxiously. Thorin stared at him in silence for what felt like an eternity, his mouth slowly trying to form words that would not come.

“Say something, please,” Bilbo gave an exasperated sigh. “I feel like I’ve just made a fool of myself.”

“If anything, I am the fool,” Thorin hastily blurted out. “For...for not saying something sooner. Bilbo, I think you ought to know by now, I care greatly for you too and I-I’ve become quite enamored with you, quite frankly,” Thorin replied as he began to blush. “I, erm… I believe I do have romantic feelings for you… if that’s… all right with you… erm…”

Bilbo’s heart pounded in his chest.

“I mean, I asked you to marry me in the hospital, for God’s sake,” Thorin continued, his gaze quickly avoided Bilbo’s, too embarrassed to make eye contact. “I just… I assumed you’d write it off as just a side effect of being high on drugs at the time, but... I really do want to… I mean, after that, I never knew how to actually...” Thorin gestured vaguely, “and well, I didn’t know if you’d ever be interested in someone like me.”

“Someone like you?” Bilbo raised his eyebrows. “You make it sound as if you’re the most undesirable bachelor this side of the Misty Mountains.”

Thorin looked helplessly at Bilbo.

“I assure you, you’re not.” Bilbo rolled his eyes. “In fact, in my eyes, you’re probably the most desirable bachelor this side of the Misty Mountains. I’ve been surprised to keep you all to myself for so long.”

“Now, would the ‘desirable’ aspect be because I run the tourist trap for your favorite lake monster?” Thorin questioned with a small smile growing on his face.

“You’re being ridiculous,” Bilbo retorted. “I like you for many more reasons than that. Though it certainly doesn’t hurt.” Bilbo raised his eyebrows with a teasing smile.

“So, uh… what now?” Thorin asked softly, anxiously shifting closer to Bilbo.

“I-I don’t know,” Bilbo shrugged. “As I said, I’m still… unfamiliar with all of this. It’s ridiculous that I’m a grown man and I’ve never had this kind of relationship before, so I apologize that I don’t have… experience… with this…” Bilbo trailed off, his face burning and trying to avoid Thorin’s gaze.

“Bilbo, it’s not ridiculous,” Thorin assured him.

“What about you?” Bilbo asked hesitantly.

“What about me? Oh, experience with the, ah… I’m lacking there as well,” Thorin explained sheepishly. Relief flickered across Bilbo’s face. “I, ah, when I was younger I thought I would just… walk into a relationship. That, you know, as I would get older it was something that naturally happened. And well, I waited and waited and never… had the opportunity, I suppose? But, I never actively pursued it either. God knows how many times my sister has offered to sign me up for dating sites.”

“So we’re both romantically challenged,” Bilbo chuckled. “I’m relieved by that and terrified by the thought.”

“Terrified?” Thorin frowned.

“Well, if you don’t know what you’re doing and I don’t know what I’m doing…” Bilbo muttered. Thorin smiled.

“Then we’ll figure it out together, I suppose,” Thorin told him with a chuckle. “There’s no set rules for this. It can be anything we want it to be, right?”

“Yeah… yeah, I suppose you’re right.” Bilbo shrugged and folded his arms.

“So, is that what you want? A… ah, romantic relationship?” Thorin asked quietly.

“I—I think so,” Bilbo nodded. “I just, it’s… I don’t want to disappoint you.” Bilbo continued nervously.

“You’re not going to disappoint me,” Thorin gave Bilbo a soft smile.

“You don’t know that,” Bilbo argued. “I’m already unsure about this whole… romantic song and dance in general…”

“We don’t have to do anything you’re uncomfortable with,” Thorin quickly assured him.

“Well, good,” Bilbo nodded. “B-Because before we... do this... or start this... or... whatever,” Bilbo started and began to fidget again. “I just... wanted to let you know that I’m not so inclined to... the more physical… lesser-clothed attributes that usually come with a... romantic relationship, if you... if you know what I mean.” Bilbo blushed, hardly meeting Thorin’s gaze. “And it’s not a matter of time, as I’m sure the… other general romance things will be. I just… I don’t want any part of it.”

If they were going to talk about physical attraction and desires, they were going to do it now before Bilbo got his hopes up too high. His stomach twisted and wondered if Thorin would decline him, think him odd or try to change his mind.  

“Oh, right… okay, of course, yeah,” Thorin nodded as he realized what Bilbo was saying. Bilbo thought he could detect disappointment in Thorin’s voice. _Oh, how could he be so foolish to think anyone would want to be with him?_

“I’m sorry,” Bilbo murmured, and Thorin looked lost. “If you don’t want to… I mean, with me being, well... if you don’t want to be with me it’s... just let me know now before either of us become too... involved.”

“Bilbo, what on Earth...? Of course, it won’t be a problem,” Thorin assured him. “I told you, we don’t have to do anything you’re uncomfortable with. If it’s not obvious by now, I’ve never had much desire for those sorts of relations either. As I said, I thought maybe if I ever found someone... then perhaps I would be inclined to participate in that kind of relationship. But knowing that you are not interested in those aspects of the relationship is perfectly fine by me.” Thorin assured him. “I’m glad you told me, but honestly I’ll just happy to be able to... be with you.”

Bilbo gave him a relieved smile as he went to embrace Thorin and he took a deep breath to try to settle his nerves. Lobelia had been right, and Bilbo wanted to cry out of sheer relief.

“Good,” Bilbo breathed. “Thank you. Thank you for understanding.”

“Of course, Bilbo,” Thorin sighed as his arms came up to embrace Bilbo as well.

“I’m sorry,” Bilbo sighed, his voice muffled against Thorin’s chest. They parted, but Thorin’s hand slid down to grasp Bilbo’s. “That was… more of a discussion than I intended it to be.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry for. Half the time I was worried I was too forward and I was going to chase you off. Imagine me, probably one of the most closed off people you’d meet, worried that I’m too forward. My sister would find that hysterical.”

“You have gotten a lot… softer than when I first came here,” Bilbo gave Thorin a small smile. “While you were worrying about being forward I was probably anxious that I was reading you wrong and that my feelings would be unwanted.”

“Frankly, we’re both terrible flirts,” Thorin decided.

“We really are. But everyone around us could read us clear as day apparently. You know there are betting pools about us?” Bilbo asked.

“Betting pools?” Thorin murmured in confusion. “About what? About us?”

“Yes,” Bilbo chuckled.

“Oh,” Thorin realized. “Really? How do you know? Was it Bofur? Dwalin? Were they pestering you about this?”

“They’re probably involved somehow, but it was your sister who told me,” Bilbo explained.

“My sister?” Thorin sighed, his fingers gripping Bilbo’s sides. “How the hell… Dwalin must be involved.”

“What are we going to do?” Bilbo questioned.

“What do you mean, ‘what are we going to do?’” Thorin frowned.

“Are you going to tell your sister first thing tomorrow morning that we’re... whatever we’re doing... dating?”

“No!” Thorin blushed incredibly hard.

“What do you propose then?” Bilbo smiled.

“I don’t know,” Thorin muttered. “We don’t have to tell them until we’re actually… dating.”

“I don’t get it,” Bilbo frowned.

“We haven’t gone on a first date,” Thorin explained with a serious look on his face. Bilbo’s face cracked into a grin.

“A first date? That’s what you’re going to wait on? Haven’t we kind of... passed that stage? With us living together, I mean.”

“I haven’t taken you on a proper date though, no matter what ‘stage’ we’re at,” Thorin protested.

“Couldn’t it be argued that our first date was that night you took me out to eat when I returned from the Shire in May?”

“Unacceptable,” Thorin argued. “If that was our first date, it could be argued that I’m doing a perfectly poor job of wooing you, seeing as it is nearly the end of July and we haven’t had a proper second date.”

“A proper second date,” Bilbo sighed and rolled his eyes. “Second date: you took me out on the tour boat to see the sunset before your sister arrived for the summer. That was pretty romantic.”

“No, Bilbo, none of those counted,” Thorin protested. “They don’t count unless we both were aware it was a date while it was happening.”

“Is that in the official dating handbook?” Bilbo questioned. “I seem to remember you just saying, ‘there are no set rules.’”

“Of course, it’s not a rule. It’s just something I’d like to do. A first date. It’s a good place for us to start,” Thorin explained.  

“Fine, a first date. What are you going to do? Take me to dinner and a movie?” Bilbo asked in an almost mocking voice. Thorin gave him a sheepish look. “Sorry, that came out harsher than I meant it. A dinner and movie would be nice if we had a theater in town. But we don’t. We can just do dinner like we do every other night of the week. I just feel like we don’t necessarily need to put pressure on ourselves to go overboard with it all, since we kind of… already… do this.”

“No, we should do something special. It doesn’t have to be ‘overboard,’ but it doesn’t have to be boring either. We can go into Dale. It’s not that far.” Thorin shrugged. “They have a nice cinema. I’ve only been there once with the boys when they were up here a summer or two ago.”

“Can you drive us?” Bilbo glanced uncertainly at Thorin’s arm, which was still in a sling.

“Well, I mean, I’m nearly healed. I should be able to manage without the sling for one night and drive us into Dale,” Thorin shrugged.

“Hmm, that makes me nervous,” Bilbo hummed.

“I’ll be fine, Bilbo. I want to do this. I want to take you into Dale for our first date,” Thorin explained.

“Well, we’ll wait a little bit. I need a little bit of an adjustment period anyway if that’s all right,” Bilbo decided. “Sometime in the next week would be fine and that will give you more time to rest your shoulder. We’ll fix the details later. For now, I say we put a put a hold on... all of this for now, and I’m going to get ready for bed. I’m mentally exhausted.”

“That... that sounds good,” Thorin nodded. Bilbo returned to what was his temporary bedroom to change out of his daily clothes and get ready for bed. He heard the television volume turn up in the other room.

Bilbo’s heart was pounding. He couldn’t believe he had just done that… just said those things to Thorin. It was a relief, but at the same time anxiety still pooled in his stomach. _It’ll never last,_ a voice in the back of his head said. _He’ll get tired of you._

He shook his head and replayed the conversation they’d just had and all the reassurances Thorin had made that he was just fine being in a relationship with Bilbo after all the cards were on the table. _He’s lying to make you feel better._ _After he’s done pitying you in a few weeks time, he’ll break up with you._

Bilbo couldn’t afford to think like this, especially if he was planning on moving here. Though he supposed it wouldn’t hurt to talk to Thorin again tomorrow about the whole complication of a possible relationship on top of his move to Erebor.

After he finished washing his face in the washroom, he returned to the bedroom and glanced at the bed.

He knew Thorin had been feeling better and had probably healed enough to start sleeping in his proper bed. Bilbo figured Thorin was trying to be polite and let Bilbo continue to occupy the bed. The brief thought of sharing the bed crept into his mind. Now that they were... whatever they were, perhaps Thorin would be open to the idea. Bilbo wasn’t sure if he’d have enough courage to ask Thorin tonight after everything that had happened, but perhaps tomorrow... or whenever they decided to go on their ‘first date.’

Bilbo returned to the living area and found that Thorin had returned to the sofa, lazily flipping through the channels as if everything was normal and nothing had happened.

“Your room is free if you’d like to change,” Bilbo offered. Thorin only hummed in acknowledgment as Bilbo took a seat beside Thorin. The television landed on a sitcom, but the volume was so low all Bilbo could hear was the laugh track that accompanied the show.

Bilbo mentally noted that they were sitting closer than they usually did and he swallowed loudly.

“Bilbo?” Thorin called softly.

“Hm?” Bilbo hummed in response.

“I was thinking… ah, would it—I mean, erm, well... I think I want my bed back,” Thorin said hesitantly.  

“Oh, of course,” Bilbo nodded, immediately thinking back to his suggestion of sharing the bed. “I was wondering when you’d decide you’d want to sleep in a proper bed. I can go fetch my things so I can get set up out here on the couch tonight.”

“Actually I, erm, was thinking after tonight and everything… that you’d stay,” Thorin suggested quietly.

“Stay? Oh, you mean in your bed?” Bilbo realized Thorin was already ahead of him.

“You don’t have to if it’ll make you uncomfortable,” Thorin told him bashfully. “But it’s an option. I’d hate to make you go back to sleeping on the couch.”

“I mean… It’s not so bad,” Bilbo argued. “The couch, anyway.”

“Yes, it is. I’ve been doing it for nearly a month now,” Thorin chuckled.

“All right, if you’re sure” Bilbo decided with a nervous smile. “I’ll… I’d be happy to share your bed. So much for a first date, hm?”

“I’m still going to take you on one,” Thorin proclaimed.

“You’ll take me on a first date after you take me to bed?” Bilbo smiled. “Oh, my Baggins side of the family will be utterly scandalized.”

“Oh, stop,” Thorin laughed. “It’s perfectly reasonable in our case. Unless you want to wait to sleep in the same bed until after marriage?”

“Don’t make fun of me,” Bilbo blushed with a smile. “Pre-marital bed sharing is going to be the most scandalous aspect of our relationship. How thrilling.”

His stomach churned. _Were they already joking about marriage?_ _Stop it. Stop thinking about it. It’s nothing._

“Come on,” Thorin stood up and turned the TV off. “Let’s go to bed.”

Bilbo got up and followed Thorin to the bedroom.

“Which side of the bed do you sleep on?” Bilbo asked as Thorin went to his dresser and began to dig around for something to wear to bed.

“Erm,” Thorin looked over his shoulder. He squinted at the bed as if it would answer for him. “The… left?”

“That didn’t sound very confident,” Bilbo remarked. “You usually sleep in the middle, don’t you?”

“Not anymore I don’t,” Thorin went back to his quest for a t-shirt. Finding one he was satisfied with he pulled off his shirt and pulled on the new shirt. “Do you have a side?” Thorin asked as he discarded his trousers.

“Let’s go with the right side,” Bilbo decided. “We can change later right?”

“No, Bilbo. Deciding what side of the bed you sleep on is a permanent life-changing decision, I want you to think about this very carefully,” Thorin retorted, but couldn’t hold a straight face.

“Shut up,” Bilbo muttered with a smile on his face as well as he crawled into his respective side of the bed. Thorin disappeared into the bathroom for a little while, and Bilbo reclined on the pillows and checked his phone notifications before settling in. When Thorin finally returned from the bathroom he came around, and slid into bed beside Bilbo.

“Are you good?” Thorin asked as he situated his pillow. Bilbo took his glasses off and deposited them and the phone on the bedside table.

“Yeah,” Bilbo muttered as he finally lay down. Thorin turned the lamp on his side off, dousing the room in darkness.

“Is that okay?” Thorin asked softly as if he’d disturb the darkness.

“Yeah,” Bilbo confirmed once again, his eyes falling shut. “How do you feel?” Bilbo asked after a moment of silence.

“Huh?” Thorin replied quietly.

“Your collarbone,” Bilbo explained sleepily, opening his eyes again and looking through the darkness at Thorin. “And your ribs.”

“Oh,” Thorin sighed. “Fine so far.”

“Let me know if they’re not though,” Bilbo muttered.

“I’ll be fine, stop worrying, Bilbo,” Thorin chuckled softly. Bilbo hummed quietly as they lay there. It was strange, but not entirely in a bad way.

“Thorin?” Bilbo called out weakly. Thorin hummed in acknowledgement. “It’s funny…” Bilbo started, “I mean, did you ever sleep over at your friend’s houses when you were young?”

“Hm? Oh, I mean sure, Dwalin usually, but some school friends from time to time,” Thorin explained. “Why?”

“It kind of feels like that,” Bilbo admitted. Thorin laughed.

“I suppose it does,” Thorin remarked. “I just hope this sleepover doesn’t end anytime soon.”

Bilbo couldn’t smother his smile as he let out a weak laugh.

“Sorry,” Thorin muttered. “Being too forward again, I realize.”

There was a rustle of the sheets and a quiet grunt as Thorin sat up a little.

“Seriously, Bilbo, don’t feel pressured, by any of this. If you want I’ll go back and sleep out in the armchair.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Bilbo said as he reached out to find Thorin’s hand. Thorin lowered himself back onto the pillow and grasped at Bilbo’s hand gently.

“Okay,” Thorin yawned. “If you’re sure.”

“Positive,” Bilbo confirmed. “Thank you.”

“Of course. Goodnight,” Thorin mumbled softly.

Bilbo wasn’t sure what level of relationship would garner cuddling up to one another before falling asleep, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to pursue their new relationship much further tonight. Bilbo was still reeling from everything else that had happened. He was also cautious about accidentally injuring Thorin in the middle of the night if he rolled over oddly, so he figured it was for the best that they stay on their respective sides. Bilbo curled into himself, drawing his knees up closer to his chest and sighed, eventually drifting into sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a chapter I was looking forward to for ages!! (And I've probably rewritten it at least five times to get it right...) In case it wasn't clear, I see Bilbo as demiromantic/asexual and Thorin as demisexual/demiromantic and we're finally reaching that beautiful 'Asexual Relationship' tag. THANKS Y'ALL!!


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